Safety culture in an organization
Safety culture in an organization
Human Resource is
the main assets for any organization. This asset can be disturbed due to safety
issues and accidents. The prevention of work-related accidents and diseases is
the priority for any organization. And that ensures the well-being of employees,
organizations, and global society. In the beginning of 19th century there were
no good practices to assure the health & safety of the employees. But now
the entire world is standing for the safety first. To support create safety
working environment, lot of policies & regulations have been developed,
acts have been introduced and implemented, rules and regulations have been
assigned, and standards have been set and assessed periodically. The
organizations that practice a strong health & safety culture, effectively and efficiently avoid workplace
accidents and injuries.
Accidents are direct
indicator for unsafe working environment. Therefore, leadership of the
organization must take necessary actions to avoid these from the working
environment and provide a safe workplace for employees
Why
safety culture important to an organization
If a work
environment does not encourage much on safety protocol, can be reflect lot of
deviations and issues. Main issue come with the number of accidents per day.
Due to increase of number of accidents, employees not confident to work in such organization.
They tend to leave from the organization. Therefore, the employee turnover
number can be increased. Also, there can be a high absenteeism. The employee
attitude is not impressive. Since the
employee’s relationship with the company is not strong, that impact on
the organization growth. Ultimately organization loose both growth and image.
Therefore, an unsafe work environment can be destroyed the total organizational
culture, performance, and profitability (Ridley & Channing, 2008).
Human
Resource Management approach on creating a safety culture.
To ensure the health
and safety in the work environment, Human Resource management should take the
leadership. Therefore, HRM need to have a better
understanding and clarity on this subject and may refer to expert to get proper
consultancy. A good health and safety culture assure the employees’ safety as well as the create a good
image to organization. Also, that can be supported to get a great recognition
to the company within the community. To create such a culture, huge workload has to be completed by the HR leadership of the organization.
Ø Understand and study on the standards,
policies, rules & regulation behind on health and safety.
Ø Develop health & safety policies,
and procedures to implement in the working environment based on the study.
Ø Introduce insurance covers and compensation
to organization.
Ø Deliver awareness to the entire
organization regarding the set policies & procedures and emphasize the value
of the safety to a work environment.
Ø Introduce self-auditing mechanism in
the organization to make sure that, practices and processes align with the
agreed and setup policies & procedures.
Ø Evaluate and validate the
environment for potential risks by getting consultancy from an external party.
Ø Certify the organization with international
standard and deliver right result.
Conclusion
In a business environment, health and safety factor should be the most
important area. That ensure employee’s protection and organization’s alignment
with the protocols. An unsafety working
culture can be dropped down the employee satisfaction. That lead to decrease
the attraction. And that can impact on company image, profitability, and the
business growth. Therefore , creating a safety culture stimulate the
organizational growth. To support on that Human resource management should take
a leading role.
References
Armstrong, M. (1999). Human Resource Management Practice.
London: Kogan Page Limited.
Holt, A. S., & Allen, J. (2015). Principles of Health
and Safety at Work. Oxfordshire: Routledge.
Ridley, J. R., & Channing, J. (2008). Health and
Safety at Work: Key Terms. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Thank u for sharing Duminda. A safe work environment is essential requirement for both employees and employers . Safe workplace is a right of all employees.It is the main responsibility of the employer to protect their employees and keep them safe.The safer the work environment, the more productive it is. Productive employees are an asset to the organization. For instance, productive employees can give more output in less time, reducing operational costs. Also, absenteeism rates drop, and employees are more focused on their tasks.
ReplyDeleteReally appreciate your encouraging comments Wathsala. and the value creation to the post.
DeleteImportant topic Duminda, safety culture is a set of ways of doing and rationalizing that is widely shared by the employees of an organization in the context of managing the most important risks linked with its activities.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Nadun for your valuable input to the post.
Delete