Page 247 - DMGT406_HUMAN_RESOURCE_MANAGEMENT

Human Resource Mangement

Notes 14.1 Safety and Health at Work Place

Organizations are obliged to provide employees with a safe and healthful environment. Health
is a general state of physical, mental and emotional well being. Safety is protection of a person's
physical health. The main purpose of health and safety policies is the safe interaction of people
and the work environment. Poor working conditions affect employee performance badly.
Employees may find it difficult to concentrate on work. It would be too taxing for them to work
for longer hours. Their health may suffer. Accidents and injuries may multiply causing enormous
financial loss to the company. Absence and turnover ratios may grow. A company with a poor
safety record may find it difficult to hire and retain skilled labour force. The overall quality of
work may suffer. Many deaths, injuries and illnesses occur because of safety violations, poor
equipment design or gross negligence.

Example: The Union Carbide accident in Bhopal, which killed over 4,000 people in 1984,
is considered by most experts to be the result of equipment design flaws which could have been
avoided. Union labour ministry's records place companies in Maharashtra and Gujarat as the
most dangerous places to work, with over 25,000 and 13,000 accidents respectively. The biggest
offenders are generally from jute mills, lead battery manufactures, chemical units, textile mills,
match and fireworks industry especially in Sivakasi, automotive industry, sugar crushing units,
mining, heavy construction, flour mills, etc.

14.2 Measure to Promote Employee Health at Workplace

The well-being of the employee (Physical as well as Mental) in an industrial establishment."
1. Physical Health
2. Mental Health
Health promotion at the work place may be broadly defined as any effort to prevent disease or
premature death through behavioural and organisational change. Health promotion focuses on
prevention rather than treatment or cure. Therefore, the health programme at the company is
planned around improvement and prevention of controllable risk factors such as smoking,
obesity, high level of cholesterol, stress, hypertension and low level of physical fitness, which
are responsible for most major diseases. Promoting health consciousness is not an easy task.
It requires continuous education, systematic campaign and genuine support from top
management. Before the company starts planning for the programme, it must investigate the
needs and resources of both the employees and the organisation. The planning programme,
basically, involves five steps: setting goals, developing the plan, allocation of resources,
implementation and evaluation of the plan. The core health promotion activities may cover
such areas as:
1. Healthy living
2. Eating wisely

3. Exercise and Physical fitness
4. Smoking cessation
5. Stress management
6. Protecting one self from workplace hazards.
The initial effort and investment required to institute such health promotion programmes may
prove to be quite heavy but the long run rewards are quite fruitful: improvements in employees

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