Employee health, safety and security

1. Employee Health, Safety and Security
For smooth functioning of an organization, the employer has to ensure health, safety and
security of his employees
Thus it form an integral part of work environment

Health is the general state of well being. It not only includes physical well being, but also
emotional and mental well being

Safety refers to the act of protecting the physical well being of an employee. It will include
the risk of accidents caused due to machinery, fire or diseases

Security refers to protecting facilities and equipments from unauthorized access and
protecting employees while they are on work

2. Employee Health, Safety and Security Cont..
In organizations the responsibility of employee health and safety falls on the supervisors or
HR manager
HR manager helps in coordinating safety programs, making employees aware about the
health and safety policy of the company, conduct formal safety training, etc
Supervisors and departmental heads are responsible for maintaining safe working
conditions
Responsibilities of HR manager
 Monitor health and safety of employees
 Coach employees to be safety conscious
 Investigate accidents
 Communicate about safety policy to employees

3. Employee Health, Safety and Security Cont..
Responsibilities of supervisors/departmental heads
 Provide technical training regarding prevention of accidents
 Coordinate health and safety programs
 Train employees on handling facilities an equipments
 Develop safety reporting systems
 Maintaining safe working conditions 
 
Legislations governing Occupational Health & safety in India
  Factories act1948
 Mines act 1952
 Dock workers Act (Safety, Health & Welfare) 1986  

4. Employee Health, Safety and Security Cont..
Issues in Employee Health & Safety
 An organizational approach to safety is effective only when both the work design and 
employee behavior work in coordination towards it
 
 Physical Work Settings: Include temperature, noise levels, and proper lighting, size of 
     work area, kinds of materials used, distance between work areas etc 
      The physical settings of work affect the performance of employees to a great extent.
 
 Sick Building Syndrome: It is a situation in which employees experience acute health
    problems and discomfort due to the time spent in a building (particularly their 
    workplace)
Factors that lead to sick buildings include poor air quality, inadequate ventilation, improper 
cleanliness, stench of adhesives and glues 
 

5. Employee Health, Safety and Security Cont..
 Ergonomics: The term comes from the Greek word ergon, which means “work,” and
omics which means “management of.”
Ergonomics is the study of physiological, psychological, and engineering design aspects of
a job, including such factors as fatigue, lighting, tools, equipment layout, and placement of
controls.
It is the interface between men and machines
Ergonomics is taken into consideration when designing the workstation for computer
operators. Problems of back ache, eye strain and headache arise due to long working hours
spent in front of computers.

6. Employee Health, Safety and Security Cont..
 Engineering of Work Equipments and Materials: Accidents can be prevented in a
way by proper placements of dangerous machines
Providing safety guards and covers on equipments, emergency stop buttons and other
provisions help in reducing the accidents considerably

 Cumulative Trauma and Repetitive Stress: Cumulative trauma disorder occurs when
same muscles are used repetitively to perform some task. This results in injuries of
musculoskeletal and nervous system. Employees encounter high levels of mental and
physical stress also.

 Accident Rates and Individuals: An individual approach to safe environment helps in
reducing the accident rates. This is generally because more problems are caused by
careless employees than by machines or employer negligence
A positive attitude towards work environment and other practices promotes employee
safety

7. Employee Health, Safety and Security Cont..
 Engineering of Work Equipments and Materials: Accidents can be prevented in a
way by proper placements of dangerous machines
Providing safety guards and covers on equipments, emergency stop buttons and other
provisions help in reducing the accidents considerably

 Cumulative Trauma and Repetitive Stress: Cumulative trauma disorder occurs when
same muscles are used repetitively to perform some task. This results in injuries of
musculoskeletal and nervous system. Employees encounter high levels of mental and
physical stress also.

 Accident Rates and Individuals: An individual approach to safe environment helps in
reducing the accident rates. This is generally because more problems are caused by
careless employees than by machines or employer negligence
A positive attitude towards work environment and other practices promotes employee
safety