Occupational safety advice for businesses
Occupational safety and health (OSH) is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goals of occupational safety and health programs include to foster a safe and healthy work environment. OSH may also protect co-workers, family members, employers, customers, and many others who might be affected by the workplace environment. In short, this is a measure put in place to better the welfare of any stakeholders close to a business.
Occupational safety and health can be important for moral, legal, and financial reasons. All organisations have a duty of care to ensure that employees and any other person who may be affected by the companies undertaking remain safe at all times. Moral obligations would involve the protection of employee's lives and health. Legal reasons for OSH practices relate to the preventative, punitive and compensatory effects of laws that protect worker's safety and health. OSH can also reduce employee injury and illness related costs, including medical care, sick leave and disability benefit costs. OSH may involve interactions among many subject areas, none more so than in industrial engineering.
In the UK, health and safety legislation is drawn up and enforced by the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities (the local council) under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Increasingly in the UK the regulatory trend is away from prescriptive rules, and towards risk assessment. Recent major changes to the laws governing asbestos and fire safety management embrace the concept of risk assessment as a means to ensure that measures can be well implemented and recorded for any issues which may be repeated. To ensure this can be effective, there will be relevant paperwork drawn up to record any findings which can then be viewable by all members of staff within the business. Manufacturing is a notable line of business which has a high level of dependance on having risk assessment's drawn up.
All in all, these measures are essential for any business given that any hazard can cause a great deal of harm the right provision have not been put in place. Among the basics of decreasing the levels of harm in the workplace is to ensure there are no slippery surfaces or sharp objects in the workplace. As the basics for any business, this can eliminate the chances of any adverse issues which could well follow if an employee was to injure themselves.
Occupational safety and health can be important for moral, legal, and financial reasons. All organisations have a duty of care to ensure that employees and any other person who may be affected by the companies undertaking remain safe at all times. Moral obligations would involve the protection of employee's lives and health. Legal reasons for OSH practices relate to the preventative, punitive and compensatory effects of laws that protect worker's safety and health. OSH can also reduce employee injury and illness related costs, including medical care, sick leave and disability benefit costs. OSH may involve interactions among many subject areas, none more so than in industrial engineering.
In the UK, health and safety legislation is drawn up and enforced by the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities (the local council) under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Increasingly in the UK the regulatory trend is away from prescriptive rules, and towards risk assessment. Recent major changes to the laws governing asbestos and fire safety management embrace the concept of risk assessment as a means to ensure that measures can be well implemented and recorded for any issues which may be repeated. To ensure this can be effective, there will be relevant paperwork drawn up to record any findings which can then be viewable by all members of staff within the business. Manufacturing is a notable line of business which has a high level of dependance on having risk assessment's drawn up.
All in all, these measures are essential for any business given that any hazard can cause a great deal of harm the right provision have not been put in place. Among the basics of decreasing the levels of harm in the workplace is to ensure there are no slippery surfaces or sharp objects in the workplace. As the basics for any business, this can eliminate the chances of any adverse issues which could well follow if an employee was to injure themselves.
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