Abstract
Health and safety are topics of interest to any organization,
to create workplaces healthy and safe, we mean not only to physical and mental
health of the employees, but also to a work environment which guarantees the
company productivity and the quality of working life, providing the
effectiveness of the company and raising worker morale.
In order to create a better working environment, Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created by The Occupational Safety
and Health Act of 1970, in which employers and employees work together to
ensure the health and safety in the workplace (Mondy, 2012).
Keywords: health, safety, OSHA
Health and Safety in the workplace
Health is not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity as defined in medieval period by
Galeno; it is a dynamic condition resulting from a body’s constant adjustment
and adaptation in response to stresses and changes in the environment for
maintaining an inner equilibrium (WebFinance,
Inc, 2012). Health must be understood as
a process, and at the same time as the result of perceptual factors of
functionality, projection and unstable equilibrium in the biological environment in the context of a
particular cultural- historical society which man is born, lives and dies (Sanchez Santos, Amaro Cano, Cruz Alvarez,
& Barriuso Andino, 2001).
On
the other hand, safety is considered a state relatively free of danger, risk,
or threat of harm, injury, or loss to personnel or property, whether caused
deliberately or by accident (WebFinance,
Inc, 2012).
Proper
care and management of both topics, health and safety are of paramount
importance for the maintenance of a healthy work environment, where managing
the balance between workplace conditions and employee, result in
productivity and prestige for the company.
Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) created by The Occupational Safety and
Health Act of 1970 is intended to ensure work safety and health in the United
States, which is dedicated to developing conditions to optimize the working environment,
requiring employers to guarantee safety in the workplace, but at the same time,
states that the employers have a responsibility to furnish a workplace free
from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or
serious physical harm (Mondy, 2012).
Every
year occur around 120 million occupational accidents in the world, of which at
least 200,000 are fatal (El Diario de
Hoy, 2004). In developing countries occur more fatalities than in
industrialized countries, which increases the need for training programs
focusing on health and safety prevention, but it remains a significant problem
in this latter like many diseases that are known to affect workers in different
ways.
Because
of the multitude of existing risks in most workplaces and the general lack of
attention that many employers provide health and safety, accidents and
work-related diseases remain serious problems in all parts of the world. They
can dramatically lower the effective of
company and employee moral as explained
Mondy (2012), getting to be considerable expense that can occur, as huge costs
to the state through social security payments, costs for medical treatment, and
the loss of the employability of the worker; also costs to employer through
payments to legal fees, fines, compensatory damages, investigation time, lost
production, lost good will from the workforce, from customers and from the
wider community (Ewete, 2011), and no
less important the cost to the family
economy.
Health
and safety, are two important fronts for the proper functioning of the work
environment, in which not only must involve governments, employers and
employees, but the whole society, because their negative impact will affect
directly or indirectly on entire it.
References
El Diario de Hoy. (2004).
Introduccion a la Salud y seguridad Laboral. El Diario de
Hoy-elsalvador.com,
http://www.elsalvador.com/riesgos/articulos/seguridad.htm.
Ewete, F. K. (2011, July 27). Slideshare.net.
Retrieved from Importance of Occupational Safety:
http://www.slideshare.net/IITA-CO/importance-of-occupational-safety
Mondy, R. W. (2012). Human Resources Management.
New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Sanchez Santos, L.,
Amaro Cano, M. d., Cruz Alvarez, N. M., & Barriuso Andino, A. (2001). INtroduccion
a la Medicna general Integral. La Habana: ENCIMED.
WebFinance, Inc. (2012). businessdictionary.com. Retrieved from
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/health.html
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