The general mental well-being of the individuals at work is vital for everyone at the workplace, and it contributes to the enhancement of both personal and organizational resilience and ultimate success in attaining organizational objectives of maximizing their returns (Rahman, 2017). Every person at the workplace has a responsibility of ensuring that the working environment is conducive for themselves and everyone around. On this basis, therefore, every individual at a workplace should look after their mental health and further create a mentally healthy workplace without thwarting on the rights and privileges of other people.
Wu et al. (2010) provided some of the standard features of a healthy working environment, and these include positive workplace culture, offering support to workers with mental health, zero-tolerance to discrimination and proper management of stress and other possible risk factors. According to an article by Weaver et al. (2012), an organization’s workplace should be one where workers enjoy the feeling of a positive social environment which fosters a sense of respect, belonging and purpose among the individuals thereby giving each employee the opportunity to actualize their full potential. It is further noted that a workplace environment should give the workers a sense of security where they enjoy safe physical and psychological environment thus making them more efficient in their roles.
In his article, Guest (2011) has emphasized the importance of a healthy and safe workplace whether in a startup business or an already established enterprise. The author pointed out that one of the vital factors that ensures the success of an organization is to keep the workers’ inspiration alive so that they can be healthy and be fruitfully engaged in their roles. This point is emphasized by Bond et al. (2010) who indicated that those organizations which strive to maintain a healthy and safe workplace consistently and sustainably tend to record low rates of burnouts among their staff and they also tend to provide sufficient support to their workers.
1.2 Legal Responsibility
Employers have a legal mandate to ensure the safety of its workers at all levels of their work in the organization. Every worker has rights to a safe and healthy workplace that improves his/her wellbeing, and therefore it is the mandate of the employers to ensure that the workplace is conducive. As noted by Hart (2010), it is required by law that every business irrespective of the size should be safe and healthy for individuals to work efficiently operate. Despite the fact that employers should ensure safe working environment, workers themselves also have the responsibility of ensuring they keep the workplace safe and habitable to enhance their efficiency.
In the works of Wu et al. (2010), it is pointed out that employers have the duty to ensure the protection of their workers’ health, safety, and welfare as well as any third party to whom the business affects either directly or indirectly. Business owners must, therefore, be ready to employ every resource to achieve this ultimate objective. Employers should, therefore, ensure that the workplaces effectively control any risks that might cause injury and that employees are protected from anything that might be harmful.
It is also the responsibility of the employer as provided in the Health and Safety law to critically assess the possible risks at the workplace which might in any way cause harm to the workers while carrying out their duties (Glendon et al. 2016). Risk assessment should be carried periodically at the workplace to address any issue that might cause harm such as assessing the level of risk resulting from the factory floor and other dangerous practices on the production line at Bruno Smallgoods. To further reduce the danger to the workers, the employers are obliged to provide all the relevant information regarding the risk levels of their organizations and their level of preparedness to minimize harm to employees and their emergency responses in case of any danger. Employers should provide sufficient training to their workers on how to deal with risks to enhance their level of disaster preparedness.
As observed by Hale and Borys (2013), employers should provide an open communication system with their workers as this creates room for easy consultations with the employees whenever there is a problem that needs the attention of the management. Company consultation should be carried out either directly by the employer or through the representative appointed by the union. Open company discussion can contribute significantly in preventing both physical and psychological harm to the workers as people will have the opportunity to express their views freely.
Other employer responsibilities in ensuring that workplaces are safe for efficient performance to include the establishment of a legal occupational health and safety program at the place of work, provision of sufficient first aid equipment, supplies, and trained personnel in case of an emergency. They should also conduct an adequate investigation of incidents where the employees are injured or where the organization’s activities result in the damage of property. For preventive measures, the employers have the duty of giving the supervisors the prerequisite support and necessary training to carry out health and safety responsibilities at the workplace (Glendon et al. 2016).
1.3 Safety Culture
According to Hale and Borys (2013), safety culture is regarded as the process at which safety is managed in a work environment. By definition, it is the combination of attitudes, beliefs, values and the perceptions that workers have in common in relation to the safety of themselves, other employees and the general security of the workplace (Hymel et al. 2011). Due to its importance in the workplace, safety culture forms one of the integral components of organizational culture. One of the primary aspects of enhancing the security of a firm is the cultivation of security among the workers.
Bond et al. (2010) consider a safety culture as that culture in a work environment where every employee views safety as the most vital thing for their wellbeing and behave in a manner that prioritizes their safety and the safety of others that are around them. Some of the common safety culture practices include being conscious of safety, using proper safety equipment and adherence to standard safety laws. In his view, Guest (2011) indicates that in an effective safety culture, every worker has the responsibility of safety and therefore strives to pursue it daily.
It makes employees go far beyond their normal call of duty to the identification of any unsafe behaviors and then intervene to rectify them. Safety culture accrues some benefits to the organization that adopts its use in its management, and some of the advantages include the ability to retain their existing workers, lowering the rates of injury and also having a higher return on investments (Boxall and Purcell, 2011). In general, therefore, the success of any organization in the long run highly depends on the safety of its workforce as this helps minimize the transaction cost.
1.4 Purpose of Writing
Based on the importance of health and safety to an organization, the present paper delves in illustrating the concept of safety by identifying its different facets and how vital it is to organizational success. The paper aims at providing a proper and deeper understanding of the concept of safety at workplace and the roles of both employers and workers in ensuring that the working environment is safe from any form of harm. Additionally, the paper analyzes the safety culture of Bruno Smallgoods (sample case study) to help identify some of the risks that workers can be exposed to at the workplace and then design appropriate recommendation strategies to rectify the situation. In summary, therefore, the paper evaluates the general outlook of organizational safety and culture and how the two concepts contribute to the ultimate success of a firm. The paper is thus organized in different sections to bring out the concepts of safety and culture and how applicable they are to Bruno Smallgoods safety situation.
2. Findings (current situation)
2.1 Current safety issues
Safety is always considered a priority in any workplace to ensure that the workers do not cause harm to themselves while at work. Carayon et al. (2015) observed that most of the accidents that occur within organizations are preventable if only people adhered to the common workplace safety issues. Noteworthy, the security of a place of work requires a collaborative effort where everybody is involved in the process of ensuring that every unattended tool or equipment is properly stored in its right place. Some of the current safety issues include the following:
Slipping and Tripping is common workplace safety issues in most work environments that must be taken into account to avoid injury. According to Nahrgang et al. (2011), slippery floors owing to spillage of a liquid must be wiped immediately as it often poses dangers to those walking across the floors. It is a common practice always to keep the walkways clear of any obstructions. As a safety measure, it is recommended to use non-slip strips particular on stairways that are made of slippery materials to minimize instances of accidents. Care and caution must also be taken while climbing either down or up the ladder to avoid cases of miss-step on a rung and subsequent injury.
Workplace violence is also considered a safety issue especially when it threatens efficiency and productivity of the workers. In their article, Bond et al. (2010) observe that violence at places of work as a safety issue is not limited only to physical confrontations but also includes verbal abuse, bullying, and cases of sexual harassment. With no proper structures within the organization to tame the different forms of violence within work environments, the employees may be discouraged to continue working in such places. Workplace violence can lead to injury and subsequent loss of revenue on the part of the company. Thus, it is the responsibility of the management to take seriously any signs of violence or employee abuse that may compromise the conducive workplace environment.
Although most people may not consider it a workplace safety issue, allowing visitors into work environments makes a point of concern both for the management and employees. According to McCaughey et al. (2013) when visitors come to a site, they become the responsibility of the management to ensure safety of the visitors and the workers. Thus all visitors must register at the reception to take account of how many visitors are in the building so as to ensure their safety. Since visitors may be unfamiliar with potential dangers in the workplace, it is highly recommended that they walk with a guide, preferably a staff of the organization.
2.2 Culture at Bruno’s
An independent, health and safety investigation revealed some areas that lax safety practices within the Bruno Smallgoods firm. The larger portion of the lower level management at the company which includes frontline staffs, supervisors, and the middle management has failed their responsibility to enforce safety measures. With leaders having a poor attitude towards organizational safety it sets considerably weak precedence to the over 250 employees of the Bruno company.
Although the auditor found the senior management not culpable for the poor security measures of the meat factory, they, however, failed in their responsibility in translating their words into actions. As Geldart et al. (2010) observe it is the mandate of the organizational leadership to enforce a culture of safety and conducive working environment. To ensure that the company adhered to the standards required of the food manufacturing factory, the senior management had to make sure that their workers are committed to the safety of the workplace.
As an animal butchery, Bruno Smallgoods’ workers have not shown commitment to make sure that the workplace is safe from blood spillage from the floor. The factory has indulged into dangerous practices within the place of work which if not taken into account any cause injury and even death of the employees while at work. Contrary to the conventional standards, some of the workers are not wearing their respective protective gears to minimize instances of injury.
Furthermore, the workers are also leaving most of the used equipment unattended to and not properly stored at their right places. The poor management of the farm tools at Bruno’s company, the safety of the workers at the factory is likely to be compromised. In the attempt to speed up the production processes, safety barriers of the machines are removed. While this achieves the desired outcome, they, however, put into danger the lifespan of the tools themselves.
3. Characteristics of Safety culture
The concept of safety culture is widely used in the modern business setup where the knowledge is turned into action to help propel an organization to its success. Organizational culture in firms creates conducive conditions and shape individual behaviors that are vital in the realization of good performance among the workers. To create a healthy organization safety culture, organization’s management must have a good understanding of the four essential characteristics of safety culture.
Everyone is empowered in the organization and is expected to express their views when things are not right.
The feature is vital in the sense that empowering an organization’s workers to contribute in stopping a harmful practice can be one of the barriers in preventing a serious event from happening. This characteristic gives every individual at the workplace a responsibility of taking action in event prevention plans and process improvement process (Boxall and Purcell, 2011). It is, therefore, the responsibility of the management to ensure that every worker has the necessary knowledge to help during emergencies and how to take care of others. As noted by Weaver et al. (2012) this statement realizes that positive recognition for questioning when things do not seem right is crucial in a firm just like having zero tolerance to intimidation. In essence, therefore, it gives the workers the opportunity to pause their activities and think and this can help prevent an adverse event from happening.
Everyone is Aware of the Risks Present in Organization’s Activities
Despite the fact that an activity can be complex, it is human nature that continuous repetitive practice to solve the issue can finally help find a way through. In most scenarios, individuals tend to assume the risk of their activities if the task is completed and over-confidence and complacency contribute this. An organization with a strong safety culture instill among its workers the habit of trusting their actions but verifying to know that all directions of the task are taken care of to avoid missing out crucial steps which may result in adverse outcomes (Guest 2011). Organization leaders should, therefore, create an environment that has open communication where frequent discussions are scheduled to help remind individuals to be careful when carrying out their tasks.
Its true values are Learning and Continuous Improvements
An organization with good safety culture uses the human errors or adverse events that occur accidentally as valuable insights which act as learning points to help identify the level of vulnerability of the organization in situations of emergency. In organizations that lack good safety culture, in the occurrence of such events, workers respond by discussing them openly to make those responsible uncomfortable with the aim that this makes them careful next time (Geldart et al. 2010). However, in good business setup, these situations should be carefully analyzed internally to find the best cause of action and educate the individual on the appropriate ways of preventing future occurrences.
Glendon et al. (2016) provide that organizations should have a continuous feedback loop that takes all the lessons learned from the different human activities and problems then incorporating them into the firm’s training systems to form the basis of their education. It is important to identify and rectify the precursor behavior and conditions before they eventually result in adverse events which can cause harm or damage to organization’s property. It is common knowledge that attaining zero human error is impossible, but achieving zero occurrences of significant adverse events is possible through continuous learning and improvement from previous shortcomings (McCaughey et al. 2013).
Teamwork is a prerequisite to work in this Organization
The concept of teamwork may appear to be standard component required in the success of an organization just like leadership commitment. However, it is noted that in an organization with safety culture, teamwork encompasses more than a requirement for success. In a normal business setup, it is a common norm hen a problem occurs, the pride that exists among the close-knit members of the group makes them rush into the defensive of how someone else is the problem. It should be noted that a failure of an individual worker results in the ultimate fall of the organization and therefore leaders need to overcome the basic human behaviors to ensure this characteristic is a success.
To minimize negative perception in organizations, the leaders should inculcate the culture of “we” rather than “they” in case an activity does not go as planned to avoid assigning blames to other individuals but own the whole situation as a team. As observed by Boxall and Purcell (2011), good teamwork in an organization is essential in promoting production and open communication and these eventually help minimize organization’s risks. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the leaders to consistently emphasize the importance of teamwork in the organization and how this contributes to the corporate’s success.
Recommendations
Having a strong and well inculcated safety culture in an organization is vital to workers and their families as it relieves them of the worries of the life changing experiences due to getting injured or incidents that might result on-the-job injuries
Training
One of the vital components of improving the safety culture in an organization is the training of the workforce as this equips the employees with relevant skills on risk management and other preventive measures that help reduce harm and damage in the workplace. Organization management should create clear and accessible training programs for the employees to have clear understanding of their job responsibilities, rights and duties in cases of emergencies (Kines et al. 2010). Additionally, the workers should undergo extensive training for risk assessment of the job. In the case of Bruno Smallgoods, the management should provide training to the employees to understand the organization as a whole, the safety requirements in the production line and how they should maintain the risky floors to prevent accidents.
Emphasize on Safety
Safety culture should not only be an organization’s priority but it should be emphasized as a core value that the set standards should be strictly adhered to by all workers. As observed by Geldart et al. (2010), an organization should enforce safety program in their organization through efficient communication of the safety rules and regulations so that the workers can have a clear understanding of the firm’s expectations of ethical standards. In the case of Bruno Smallgoods, the management through their regular meeting should emphasize to the workers the importance of safety and encourage them to communicate freely in case of any problem that may cause harm or damage. Through these meetings, the management of the firm should also discuss in depth some of the basic prevention tips and the safety plan procedures in cases of emergency.
Keeping the Work Areas Clean and Tidy
One of the primary causes of accidents at workplace is the untidiness of the environment which makes it prone to accidents.it has been observed that messy work environments result into unnecessary accidents which otherwise can be prevented. The management of Bruno Smallgoods should ensure that the both the production areas, office floors and other organizational areas are well cleaned and maintained. Additionally, they should ensure that the production machines are well protected and guarded to enhance their safety. Clean environment will enhance the performance of the workers as it contributes to having good health by preventing the outbreak of unnecessary illnesses arising from untidy environment.
Perform a Baseline Assessment
The organization should develop a baseline s of its current safety culture standards and this should vividly illustrate the organization’s strengths and possible areas that require improvement. Upon completion of the assessment, Bruno Smallgoods management should create a comprehensive vision and improvement strategy which should be communicated to the workers so that they know the expected safety standards required by the organization (Kines et al. 2010). For effectiveness and to indicate level of commitment, the management should provide a “commitment letter” that details the assessment results together with the opportunities that requires improvement to enhance safety
Employee Involvement
The workforce should be part of the process of enhancing the safety of the workplace since they are the major driving force in the organization. For an organization to effectively sustain its safety culture, the workforce must be given the opportunity of expressing their views during the decision making processes (Weaver et al. 2012). Bruno Smallgoods should internalize safety by making it quite personal in the sense workers are enlightened on how safety can have influence on their families and colleagues. The organization can achieve this objective through open discussion and sharing of stories with those who closely missed accidents. Additionally, recognize the efforts of the workers in their contribution to safety and these should be rewarded to encourage them to maintain high standards of health and safety.
Conclusion
From the analysis of the concept of safety culture in an organization, it is evident that the culture of safety forms an integral part of organization’s success. Due to its importance in enhancing the performance and success of an organization, management should implement every strategy that will ensure that high standards of safety are maintained within the working environment. It is widely known that a healthy population is a productive population and so maintaining a healthy and safe workforce will significantly contribute to the ultimate success. Bruno Smallgoods should, therefore, implement the recommendations to help improve its workplace safety based on the auditor’s report.
References
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