Management in the workplace

An organization s safety culture is ultimately reflected in the way safety is managed in the workplace. If the day-to-day business incorporates safety functions and activities on an ongoing basis, then safety has been integrated into the normal business process. That is an indicator of a positive safety culture. 

The process of hazard and risk management in the workplace is a tool available to all people which, when applied correctly, leads to a safer work environment. Through applying the process set out below, the risks associated with hazards can be managed. 

FSB22 Vol 5 Fire risk management in the workplace A guide for employers (2(XX))... 

The health and safety policy statement is your starting point to managing health and safety in the workplace. By law, (Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 section 2(3)) if you employ five or more people you must have a written health and safety policy. This contains your statement of general policy on health and safety at work and the organisation and arrangements for putting that policy into practice. 

OA is a prevalent disease in the workplace with significant impact on health and quality of life. Management of OA is based on a multidisciplinary approach including methods to identify allergens, use of appropriate exposure control methods, education of the workforce and surveillance (air levels and medical). 

The quality of life experienced by people with MCS is shaped, to a great extent, by the level of awareness of environmental health issues where they live and work. Some are recipients of workplace accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act others are harassed and ostracized at work, or fired from their jobs. Some disabled by chemical exposures in the workplace receive workers compensation the majority of chemical-illness claims are denied. Some cities, schools and other institutions have adopted fragrance-free policies and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs to reduce chemical barriers and dangers in public places others still resist despite all the prevalence studies and research indicating that MCS is a serious threat to public health. 

One of the things that happens to a lot of people with MCS in the workplace is that we are cut off from the rest of the staff and ostracized under the guise of accommodations. That s what happened in my case. My human resources manager convinced my doctor that... 

The purpose of this publication is to contribute to a continued reduction in the number and severity of incidents involving uncontrolled chemical reactions in the workplace. The obj ective of this publication is to convey the essentials of managing chemical reactivity hazards—those elements that are necessary, but not always sufficient, to avoid or mitigate chemical reactivity incidents. Implementing these elements should result in a management system that will, on an ongoing basis ... 

Health, is course, is more than just the absence of sickness, and there are many aspects of health in the workplace—social, psychological, and physiological—that we are not concerned with here. What we are concerned with are the problems that derive from exposure, potential and actual, to toxic materials placed wittingly or unwittingly in the working environment. But let s go back a little to see how management of health in the workplace began. 

This chapter covered only a small proportion of the vast number of chemicals that can be found in the workplace. For more definitive information on a wide variety of toxic substances, the reader is referred to standard references on industrial toxicology. Of these, one of the most useful for a quick summary of toxic effects and management is Chemical Hazards in the Workplace by N. H. Proctor and J. P. Hughes. Definitive reviews of many chemicals are published by the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the National Safety Council among others. Sources are given in Appendix III. 

One of the best ways to determine that potential is to examine the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), which by law in most jurisdictions must be provided by the manufacturer for any hazardous material used in the workplace and made available to the employees by plant management. The MSDS provides all the information necessary to determine the hazard potential and the requirements for control of any hazardous substance. Still other information can be found in the various guidelines published by the American Industrial Health Association, or by the U.S. National Safety Council, or by NIOSH (the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) or various other national, state, or provincial government bodies. (See Appendix II for information on sources.) Once you have an inventory, of course, you can start relating potential health problems to possible sources in particular areas. Also, in the process of preparing this report, you will begin to build an invaluable library that will stand you in good stead for further consideration of the problems at hand. 

Pollution prevention is everyone s responsibility. Preventing pollution may be a new role for production-oriented managers and workers, but their cooperation is crucial. It is the workers themselves who must make pollution prevention succeed in the workplace. 

Fires in the workplace continue to be caused by matches, lighters, and carelessly discarded cigarettes and other smoking materials that ignite near combustible materials. Control of these potential ignition sources is essential for an effective fire prevention program. Facility management should consider... 

Den Umgang mit Gefahrstoffen in Klein- und Mittelbetrieben sicherer gestalten. Workshop presented plans for chemicals management at the workplace, October 1999, www.baua.de/news/archiv/pm 99/pm83 99.htm... 

A less obvious interaction between regulatory compliance and innovation relates to the role of management in the innovation process and the increasing amount of management time devoted to workplace and environmental requirements with less time available for considering new discoveries and concepts. The innovation process requires a number of risk-laden decisions. Thus, careful management attention to the details of such decisions can often be critical to the successful development and commercial introduction of new approaches. 

On balance, the applied research investigating napping provides evidence for the utility of workplace napping. To the extent that naps are beneficial in the workplace, they have important practical implications for many individuals and industry alike. With particular regard to industry, management may avoid the adverse effects of impaired performance, productivity, and workplace safety that accompanies sleepiness (15) by allowing employees to inteiject a nap into their work routines. 

Health care demands both the suppression and expression of emotion and skills to know and manage feelings appropriately (Ovretveit, 2001). Emotional regulation in the workplace has been termed emotional labor and is particularly important to health care professionals. Emotional labor is defined as expressing organizationally desired emotions during service transactions (Hochschild, 1983). The difference between the emotions that an individual expresses and those he or she actually feels can be the basis of emotional exhaustion. 

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