Health & Safety in the Workplace

In the fast-paced and dynamic world of work, fortifying the Health and Safety in the Workplace is not just a legal compliance but a moral imperative. Workplace Health and Safety, also known as Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), encompasses a range of practices, procedures, and policies designed to protect the well-being of individuals within the work environment.

This blog explores the vital importance of Workplace Health and Safety and sheds light on why it should be the utmost priority for every organisation. Let’s delve to learn more!

Table of Contents

1) What is Health and Safety in the Workplace?

2) What is the Health and Safety at Work Act?

3) Who is responsible for Health and Safety in the Workplace? 

4) Employers' Health and Safety duties

5) Health and Safety issues faced by employers

6) How do you maintain Health and Safety in the workplace?

7) What is Occupational Health?

8) Who are the main Health and Safety organisations?

9) Conclusion

What is Health and Safety in the Workplace?   

Workplace Health and Safety refers to the practices, policies, and procedures implemented to ensure the well-being and safety of individuals within a work environment. It encompasses a comprehensive approach that addresses physical, mental, and emotional health hazards that may arise in the workplace. 

It covers a multitude of areas, including but not limited to:

a) Risk assessment: Identification of potential workplace hazards and assessing the associated risks to determine preventive measures. 

b) Safety policies and procedures: Establishing clear guidelines and protocols to promote safe practices and behaviour in the workplace. 

c) Training and education: Providing employees with the skills and expertise necessary to carry out their work safely and effectively. 

d) Emergency preparedness: Developing plans and procedures to handle emergencies, such as fires, natural disasters, or medical incidents. 

e) Ergonomics: Ensuring that workstations, equipment, and tools are designed and arranged in a way that minimises the risk of physical strain or injury. 

f) Health promotion: Encouraging wellness initiatives and programs to support the overall well-being and health of employees.
 

What is the Health and Safety at Work Act?

Workplace Health and Safety offer security and allow employees to work more efficiently. It not only keeps the possible dangers in check but also provides necessary steps in case of an accident. Health and Safety at Workplace Act (HSW) works on such principles. It sets a framework for an organisation that keeps everyone in the work environment safe.   

The framework offers rules and regulations everyone must follow, from office maintainers to the organisation's owner. To make it further applicable, it also provides certain rules that must be followed if the work environment needs more safety. Organisations dealing with construction sites, chemical industries, and so on undergo such requirements.   

The availability of necessary elements like a sound ventilation system and maintenance equipment is a safeguard for everyone working. HSW ensures that the workplace contains all these elements for a safe work environment. One of the most critical aspects of this act is to provide safety training to the workers of an organisation. The act also works as a welfare provision to all employees.  

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Employees responsibilities for Health and Safety at Work Act 1974  

An employer must take care of their employees, but it is also crucial for an employee to take care of themselves. There are unavoidable accidents that only occur because of the carelessness of an employee. Here are a few essential responsibilities that employees must maintain a safe and reliable work environment:  

1) Do method statements and risk evaluations: A work method statement is a set of instructions that guides you through a task while ensuring your Health and Safety. If the working staff do not take these instructions seriously, they might face unnecessary dangers along the way. Risk evolution also works on the same ground. To understand both precisely, it is essential that a person understands safety policies and reaches out to employers if they encounter doubts along the way.  

2) Talk to the staff about Health and Safety: An employer must engage workers in discussions regarding Workplace Health and Safety. Sometimes, the employer is unaware of issues lurking in the dark that only an employee can see. Talks over these threats create an efficient communication channel, leading to better safety measures.  

3) Choose trustworthy contractors: Having experience in maintaining Workplace Health and Safety in a workplace builds trust. Having an experienced contractor, you can trust to evaluate specific situations and take necessary steps offers safety assurance. Because of this, even if someone in the workplace encounters a mishappening, a reliable contractor can reduce it to the minimum.   

4) Publish Health and Safety regulations: Publish Health and Safety regulations are specific rules and regulations everyone must follow, irrespective of the organisation. These rules work as the minimum requirements or benchmarks for a particular industry. Not following these rules and regulations can be considered a violation of legal obligation.   

5) Disseminate information on Health and Safety: Training sessions and workshops play a critical role in maintaining efficiency with protection. An employee can reduce potential hazards to a minimum by following practises like distributing safety manuals and sharing incident reports. Advising what the correct response should have been offers improved techniques for the future that are less risky.   

6) Show the authorised Health and Safety placard and offer PPE and safety gear: An official Health and Safety placard displays specific rules, regulations or a danger that can be life-threatening. These placards act as a barrier to the workers in an organisation that keeps reminding them of what they should be aware of. Protective Equipment (PPE) means providing necessary tools for a safe working environment, like masks, gloves, helmets, etc.  

Health and Safety at Work Act - Employer's responsibilities  

When employers are aware of the Workplace Health and Safety of the staff working under them, workers are more aware of the potential dangers. This is the reason why HSW makes sure that employers have specific responsibilities. Here are a few key aspects that employers must follow under HSW:  

1) Follow Health and Safety training policies and procedures: According to HSW, an organisation with over five employees must print Workplace Health and Safety policies. Such policies ensure that the organisation is protecting employees.   

2) Maintaining compliance with Health and Safety rules: Maintaining Health and Safety rules once their standards are set offers a sustainable environment for employees to grow and find fewer safety-related concerns. Regular inspections of the tools and machinery in the workplace ensure that legal requirements are maintained. This also includes keeping detailed reports of the dangers, issues and errors that occurred in the past from which to learn.  

3) Collaborate with companies to protect employee Health and Safety: Collaboration with similar organisations helps employers find common risks in the work environment. It also helps discover the problems that could have been more noticeable for an organisation. Collaboration can also help form effective and efficient emergency response plans.  

4) Report potential safety hazards and insufficient safeguards: One of the primary duties of an employer is to report higher authorities whenever there are safety-related concerns. Replacing a tool or machinery that endangers a worker can save a worker from a severe injury or any other mishap.  

Who is responsible for Health and Safety in the Workplace?  

Ensuring everyone’s safety and health is too big of a responsibility for a single person. Only when everyone participates in assuring that the work environment offers reliability can the goal of having minimum disruption be achieved. Although everyone is somewhat responsible for being aware and reporting any irregularities, employers have a greater responsibility to look after the employees.  

The amount of responsibility a person holds depends on the person's role. People who play a higher position in an organisation play a more significant role in maintaining the welfare of others.  

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Employers' Health and Safety duties

Employers must legally ensure employees' health, safety, and welfare according to the Workplace Regulations 1992 during work hours. The well-being of employees must be ensured by employers "so far as is reasonably practical," which means taking suitable measures for welfare and safety. To comply with legal Health and Safety requirements, employees must collaborate with their employers and colleagues.

Under the 1999 Management of Health and Safety requirements, employers are required to identify hazards and put control measures in action. Risk assessments are required for all companies; however, companies with less than five employees are excluded from this requirement, but it is still recommended.

Health and Safety issues faced by employers  

To ensure safety in a work environment, it is essential to know common as well as rare safety-related issues that an employer faces. Here are a few issues that will provide a better understanding of this:   

1) Manual handling  

Manual handling is used in many jobs like construction, manufacturing and much more, but it also raises safety concerns. If a few handle a heavy object requiring more machinery or people, the chances of encountering injuries increase. On the contrary, there are better solutions than banning manual handling. The correct answers can be proper training and the use of better equipment.   

It is also essential to understand the perspective of an employee doing the groundwork because they know one more personal level. If workers are offered a chance to ask for the safety equipment that they feel is vital, issues like manhandling can be solved quickly.  

2) Safety of display equipment   

It is essential to have a good training course before employees start working with delicate items like display equipment. Damaging these items can be risky for the employees and cause financial damage to an organisation. 

Display equipment like LED screens requires delicate handling. Other objects like mouse and keyboards also require better care and precaution. Risk assessment is something that can help an employer in such cases. Risk assessment by nebosh is a vital component  in the safety programs. After the assessment is completed, the employer can be confident and decide which employees are better suited for a particular job.  

3) Fire protection  

Once started, fire can cause the most damage to a warehouse, factory or any other industry. It is also something that can endanger a person’s life. Therefore, it is always advisable to have a fire extinguisher, even if the chances of catching fire are minimal. Employers should regularly train the workers to handle objectives that evolve fire and use fire extinguishers effectively.  

4) Stress and mental illness  

Often, mental illness is regarded as non-threatening or a problem for an employee on a personal level. But things like too much work-related stress, excessive workload, bullying and harassment can cause mental illness. Some of the many factors employers can introduce to keep mental health in check are breaks, efficient workload, and a good work environment.  

How do you maintain Health and Safety in the Workplace?  

Maintaining Workplace Health and Safety in the Workplace requires the collective effort of everyone in the organisation. If everyone prioritises it, the organisation's productivity can also show its benefits. Here are a few key aspects that can help you maintain Health and Safety.  

1) Adjust your posture  

If you are going to sit at a desk for hours, why not model ensuring your comfort? Correct posture requires an employee to sit straight with their knees on the level of their hips. Positioning the wrist closer so that the person sits with rested elbows also makes a great posture.  

2) Be mindful of your environment  

Even when all the requirements are fulfilled, a lack of attention can cause great harm. Being attentive while working on a vast machinery, surrounded by wiring, or any other dangerous activity saves workers from injuries. It is also essential to be mindful of any potential danger lurking around that still needs fixing.  

3) Take frequent breaks   

Breaks are a good source of relief in a stressful work environment. It helps employees deal with the ongoing street, have a few laughs and relax their minds with the constant traffic of thoughts. Breaks also allow a person to stretch and prevent injuries.  

4) Report dangerous situations  

Not taking responsibility for reporting a dangerous issue can result in a threatening decision for both you and the people you surround. Reporting difficult situations highlights necessary setbacks, brings back efficiency and keeps safety in check.   

5) Use the proper safety gear   

Safety gear is designed to keep the dangerous aspect of the work away from a person. But when safety gear itself isn’t worth having, the danger can cause damage. This is why using proper safety gear that everyone can rely on is so important.  

6) Workplace stress reduction  

It is considered normal to undergo some stress when you are dealing with meaningful work. But if you face a lot of stress in the work environment, you should talk to your superiors or manager. A company that runs over stress can commit damages and decrease productivity. 

What is Occupational Health?

Occupational Health is a branch in medicine that focuses on the physical, mental and social well-being of employees in all the workplace. Its main objective are the maintenance and promotion of employee's health and working capacity. Also, improvement of working conditions and environment to become advantageous to Health and Safety.

Who are the main Health and Safety organisations?

The two most important globally recognised Health and Safety organisations are IOSH and NEBOSH.

IOSH: The Institute of Safety and Health (IOSH) help people in all sectors stay healthy and safe at workplace. There are two IOSH courses are available: Working Safely and Managing Safely. 

NEBOSH: The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) offers a globally recognised courses covering Health and Safety. Each NEBOSH course is designed in a way to provide Managers, Supervisors and employees with skills and know how to deal with a variety of safety and health issues.

Explore IOSH Working Safely Courses for the latest updates and certifications on workplace safety.

Conclusion 

In conclusion,  Health and Safety in the Workplace play a critical role in creating a safe, productive, and ethical work environment. Prioritising the well-being of employees is not only a legal obligation but a moral imperative. By implementing effective Health and Safety measures, organisations protect employees from potential hazards, reduce the risk of accidents and injuries, and promote their overall well-being. 

Learn all about the best practices to reduce workplace hazards with our NEBOSH Courses!