What I understand by Workers’ Welfare

Ugwu and Coker in the paper “Incentive Schemes, Employee Motivation and Productivity in Organizations in Nigeria: Analytical Linkages” stated that, “Employees occupy a strategic role and position in any organization (2012). They are responsible for converting inputs to productive outputs. Since they are the key to the productive outputs, they ought to be effectively and adequately compensated for their labour.” But before workers can have sustainable productivity, promotion of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being should be in place.  In other words, the general well being of the workers and productivity are two sides of the same coin and that ill health and unsafe working conditions jeopardize the whole cycle of production.

Communication: An  effective tool towards controlling hazards through exposure monitoring in  the  workplace

I observed often through my professional practice the presence of general disregards by employers and employees alike on assessment of exposure of workers to hazardous substances or agents. But have noted that problems often arise when an occupational health and safety professional fails to understand the consensual role between him and his clients –(employers/employees). Let us follow this case note to support my argument.

A noise survey was carried out in a plant, with the main aim of controlling the noise level and at the same time  to work within the standards set by Federal Environmental Protection Agency Decree, 1998, No 58. The outcome of the study revealed that 80% of the workers working in the bottling line were exposed to high noise level greater than the acceptable noise level of 90dB (A) for eight hour working day as stipulated in FEPA Guidelines and Standards for Environmental Pollution Control in Nigeria.(1991). The occupational health and safety professional that carried out the study made several recommendations including engineering control of the noise at the sources, rotation of task and provision of earmuffs for every exposed worker. But he only presented the outcome of his study to the management of the plant. The management was not only happy to endorse the outcome of the study, but also decided to to implement the recommendations. But there was discontent among workers due to failure of the management to carry them along throughout the duration of the study. However this was later resolved through dialogue where it was agreed that the outcome of the study should be presented   to both parties.

It will be discovered through this case study that simple ways to foster a positive atmosphere in a workplace is ensuring that communication is good and effective. The workers should be carried along from the onset to the end of the program. The benefit to business is that employees will like to participate positively and contribute more. In other words occupational health and safety professionals should be able to explain the outcomes of his or her study to both employers and employees in simple terms devoid of technical jargons.

In summary, obtaining the understanding and cooperation of employers and workers is critical to effective control of hazards (exposure monitoring inclusive) in the work environment.  This was a significant factor in the case study cited above. It also shows that the first step to promote good relationship, that enhanced destruction of disregard of any good motive and good intention in HSE is not only monitoring of exposure to hazardous agents but pursuit of effective communication. Without cooperation and understanding the most genuine approach to issues will be ineffective. Conformity with these general expectations is an essential requirement for carrying out tasks of identification, evaluation and control of hazardous agents in a workplace

Occupational Health & Safety : Beyond Compliance

Occupational Health & Safety : Beyond Compliance

By

B.F. Oluwagbemi 

Occupational Health and Safety Consultant

“Safety work is today recognized as an economic necessity and one of the most constructive movements that has ever come into our national life. It is the study of the right way to do things and is … one of the greatest aids to shop efficiency and economy” – Robert W. Campbell

Introduction

The questions we should always ask ourselves are as follow: Why  are we  really here on earth? Is it all about eating, drinking and taking care of ourselves and the family? Why struggling to protect ourselves against occupational diseases and injuries or non-related occupational diseases and injuries?” Or are these struggles means to an end? Are we working to eat or eating to work? These are questions we need to provide answers to before we can appreciate  beyond compliance in health and safety.

Beyond Compliance in Health and Safety

Compliance in health and safety parlance means making all stakeholders to appreciate the value of life. This approach is not emphasizing on compliance with rules and regulations only but a way of making individual to adapting positive health and safety culture and at the same time sees health and safety as a corporate responsibility issue. The latter is the way in which an organization manages its core business with solid consideration on social, environment, and economic value in order to produce a sustainable impact on society and the organization itself. This also involves creating a safe work environment that makes it possible for every worker to perform every given task without endangering himself and others. This will contribute to sustained satisfaction, productivity and enhancement of living standard, leading to a better life for every worker.

There is no doubt that failure to comply with regulations may lead to grievous injuries and even death. But this is not enough; there should also be continuous improvement component. There should be an effort to involve every worker in safety since injuries are “wastes.”  This leads to workers being at home recovering rather than at work. Therefore, protecting employees, the general public, equipment and the environment requires leadership and commitment to think beyond compliance and adopt a Positive Safety Culture model (PSC-m) , focusing on risk mitigation and best practices for  health and safety.

The Way Forward

Increasing  attention should be paid to the health and safety of workers “ the main asset” Government and employers should demonstrate at all levels the advantages of going beyond regulatory compliance , simultaneously increasing productivity, reducing workplace related injuries and ill health and improving competitiveness.  There should be a holistic, integrated approach to driving human ability and responsibility initiatives in respect of health and safety within and across organizations. We should be our brothers’ keepers. These goals can be achieved through the following broad range of actions and activities:

·       

   Driving responsive relationships by creating a health and safety management system soothed to every organization and at the same time emphasizing on commitment in the highest level of the organization. 

·      The management should do more than financial support by being actively involved in communicating health and safety messages, monitoring progress towards goals, and signing off an improvement plans.

·        The organization should put into consideration the key initiatives that create a safe and healthy culture that include integrating safety right from the conceptual design stage,   reduction of risk through risk assessment and job hazard analysis, ergonomics, awareness program to raise safety consciousness of every worker at work, on the road and at home

·   Creating awareness through every media on the promotion of health and safety in workplaces, at home and on the road.

·    Participation by all stakeholders including government, employers, employees, host community, NGO and other relevant agencies   in ensuring a health and safety work environment.

·      Reaching out to the community by adapting beyond compliance approach to human and environmental responsibility and striving for performance that exceeds regulatory requirements.

·     Having a procedure to ensure consistent and accurate record keeping. Employers should be encouraged to report work related injuries and illnesses.

·        Develop effective workplace safety and risk communications for workers who pose a challenge for technical communicators most especially in informal sector.  These groups of workers are at disadvantage because of the low level of literacy. A direct creative input from these workers will enhance safety and risk communication and promote culturally relevant topics among them.

·     Attention should be paid by the legislators to improvement of existing health and safety legislations to meet today’s technological advancement.

Conclusion

Integration of the aforementioned actions and activities into a wide society can help the government and organizations to increase life expectancy of workers, better workers’ retention, increase satisfaction, and enhancement of the relationship between employees and employers.  This approach was adopted by Johnson and Johnson worldwide manufacturer of health care products industry with its headquarter in USA. Its safety performance indicator was the lowest in history.  There was a measurable improvement in the health of its employees with reduced workplace related injuries and illnesses,  smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol, and inactivity levels.

Conclusively, what is the value of the human life when it is lost unnecessarily? Don’t we all devalue the lives of our neighbors and ourselves when we pay less attention to our safety and to theirs? Is beyond compliance not cheapening the value of our relationships, those who will want to have us back home at night safely and at work the next morning? Can we truly restrict the need to do it safely, once and at zero harm to the four walls of our workplaces and expect to be healthy?

Indeed,  beyond compliance is the life that extends the boundaries of  health safety beyond the workplace. It is a life where health and  safety are  infused in every facets of life and becomes a culture. A culture of  health and safety is one of fulfillment and healthy relationships, within the boundaries of conscious effort to safeguard the  health and safety of: our workers, our neighbor’s, our families, our fellow road-users, and ourselves. It is a life of one man for all, and everyone for us all. According to Jornaal Saan (2004), “it is human right to return home safely from work, nobody should be killed or harmed.” We should think of safety as continuous improvement rather than only compliance and cost.  The totality of which is better life for everybody.

References

Evia Carlos (2012) Participatory Translation of Safety Communication for

                       Latino Construction Workers, Journal of Business and Technical 

                      Communication

Johnson & Johnson (2005) Beyond Compliance: To Create a Competitive  

                       Advantage, Robert W. Campbell Award.

Jornal Saan (2004) Finish Institute of Occupational Health

Jusko Jill (2011) Safety Beyond Compliance, A “lean” approach to safety builds a     

              culture that engages the entire workforce in seeking out and removing 

              injury risks. EHS today

Memory Loss: A Casualty of High Blood Pressure

Memory Loss:
A Casualty of High Blood Pressure

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A gradual decline in memory and cognitive function is one of the lesser-known casualties of elevated blood pressure. There's no clear-cut cause of cognitive impairment -- an early indication of dementia -- but research strongly suggests that high blood pressure contributes to the risk.

The onset of damage may be subtle, but the effect is not: High blood pressure leads to stiffened arteries that ultimately deprive brain tissue of proper nourishment. A study in Lancet Neurologyconcluded that vascular brain injury develops insidiously over the lifetime with discernible effects. The findings suggest that high blood pressure prematurely aged the brain by about seven years.

How exactly does high blood pressure lead to cognitive decline? Your brain has two layers. The cortex, an outer layer of gray matter, is packed with brain cells that play a key role in memory, attention, perception, language and consciousness. An inner layer of white matter contains axons, the biological wires that carry information from one part of the brain to the other. Studies indicate that a reduction in blood flow caused by blood pressure–related buildup of plaque in the arteries damages nerve fibers in the white matter and reduces the volume of gray matter.

These changes in the brain structure can lead to cognitive impairment, beginning at age 50 or earlier. In more severe cases, chronic high blood pressure can result in a series of small strokes that damage brain tissue. Over time, the damage caused by multiple little strokes can result in multiinfarct, or vascular, dementia. Vascular dementia is the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer's disease, and produces symptoms that include confusion, wandering and problems with short-term memory.

The news is not all bad, however: Evidence suggests that treating high blood pressure among people in middle age and the young elderly can help prevent late-life cognitive decline and dementia. The bottom line is that people with high blood pressure need to be proactive about lowering their numbers, through lifestyle changes and/or medication, as early and consistently as possible.