Safety should be the central concern for any organization that is keen on getting the best out of its employees. However, most organizations have failed to adhere to the OSHA regulations leading to an increase in work-related injuries and fatalities. According to the United States Department of Labor 5,147 workers died in their workplaces in 2017 alone which translates to 14 deaths per day. The statistics point to the dire need of the concerned authorities to formulate and implement effective occupational safety policies and guidelines. These policies are especially important in this age where organizations have become gigantic making it costly to enhance the safety of all the employees satisfactorily. Instead, the organizations are channeling the fund's meat for enhancing employee safety to other business activities, which are more financially viable. Since the workplace is becoming increasingly hazardous, the occupational safety regulatory bodies should raise the fines and penalties for the organizations that do not meet the safety standards criteria.
THE HOOK
Organizations that fail to adhere to the OSHA occupational safety regulations are continually putting the lives of workers at risk. The construction industry is one of the most affected sectors according to the US Department of Labor. 20 percent of all the fatalities in 2017 worked in private construction companies meaning that for each five deaths, one person was a construction worker. These statistics do not stop here since 887 workers representing a 17 percent of all the worker deaths came as a result of falls from faulty ladders and roofs making this number the highest in 26 years of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). Workers who died from transport related incidents accounted for 40 percent of all worker deaths in 2017 making it the most frequent occupational safety hazard. The US Department of Labor statistics further indicate that in 2017, 272 workers died due to unintentional overdoses owing to the use of alcohol and drugs while at work. The workers who died owing to contact with equipment and objects reached up to 695 while 76 workers died after being caught in running machinery and equipment. Other workers died out of crane-related incidents with their number reaching 33 in 2017 in addition to the 166 workers who died as a result of being confined in spaces . These statistics point to one thing: the workplace is continually becoming unsafe for the workers and the concerned authorities are doing little to avert this situation. One would agree that it is high time that this situation was averted if the workers will be motivated to work at their best to contribute to the economy.
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ESTABLISHING THE NEED
Employees need to feel safe in their work to become motivated, which in turn enhances productivity and profitability. Nobody wants to work in an organization that is full of health hazards at every turn just to make a living. Consider a darkened workstation without fire exits and with dangling objects, which are ready to fall on the employees at any time. It would be unfair for an organization to expect that the employees with work at the optimum with such obvious threats. Looking at the United States Department of Labor statistics 80 people died after being struck by objects in 2017. Moreover, this department indicated that 166 people died in the same year as they were confined in small spaces that would not allow for their escape in case of emergencies. These statistics point to the fact that organizations have shelved the need to enhance employee safety putting the employees at a disadvantage. According to Jung and Makowsky (2014), modern organizations are highly industrialized with this industrialization causing increased occupational safety concerns. However, the organizations are yet to scale up their occupational safety standards to meet the current occupational health and safety needs.
Employees are exposed to various health and safety risks, which are associated with a lack of standardized occupational safety guidelines. According to Goetsch (2010), most of the employees have been rendered ineffective by conditions which are directly related to workplace hazards. Cumulative trauma disorders and musculoskeletal disorders are conditions that come because of long working hours and poor seating facilities. These disorders contribute up to 33 percent of all the occupational injuries and illnesses requiring them to spend most days away from work (Goetsch, 2010). Some employees suffer from poor eyesight due to the exposure of too much and unregulated light while others suffer from muscle pains for standing for long hours. This proposition is especially true when one considers assembly line workers who have to be present to complement the work of machines and robots. These obvious health complications mean that the employees are forced to stay away from work, which translates to a loss of productivity. The concerned organization is then forced to overwork the remaining employees, which only makes the situation worse. It is possible that the employees will be overstretched which will affect their productivity and motivation levels.
Organizations are increasingly becoming competitive in an attempt to become profitable and sustainable without giving much thought to the safety of their employees. The insistence on reaching sales and production targets has shifted the focus from the employees. It is not a surprise to find the employees risking their lives all in the name of meeting the organization's productivity requirements. Klein, Miller, Balter, Laskey, Haines, Norbash... and Goldstein, (2009) think otherwise in that an organization that is keen on succeeding should consider its employee's environment. In this case, the working environment should be clean and free from any health and safety hazards. According to Klein, et al. (2009), most of the big companies are keen on making vast sums of profit but end up being closed for having poorly managed work environment. In 2016 five companies at Lincoln construction site, Nebraska faced the risk of closing down for subjecting their workers to numerous but preventable safety risks. The US Department of Labor noted with concern that up to 40 percent of all the deaths in that construction were preventable. Sadly, the employers continued to ignore the obvious safety hazards by letting the workers continue with their work as if nothing was amiss. Following these gross violation of the OSHA regulations, the US Department of labor had to fine these companies a total of $115,000 with the hope that they would improve on their safety. The fining is what Jung and Makowsky recommends for those companies which do not take into consider the safety of their employees.
SATISFYING THE NEED
Organizations must realize that employees are central to realizing their goals and objectives and as such should invest heavily in enhancing their safety. The work environment should be flexible, accommodating, and conducive enough to motivate the employees to work at their optimum. Most specifically, an organization should ensure that there is enough lighting to protect the employee's eyesight. Moreover, there is the need to ensure that there are safety exits, which are clearly labeled to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries in case of an emergency Lin, Tsai, Gatti, Lin, Lee and, Kang (2014). Of importance, is the fact that these exits should be open always as there have been cases of employees have been trapped owing to blocked or locked exits and escapes. Additionally, the organizations should have flexible schedules, which allows the employees ample time to rest especially if such employees spend most of their time standing. The best way to enhance this schedule is to promote the rotation of employees to various departments and workstations within the organization. Moreover, organizations can invest in better and comfortable seats for their employees who spend most of their time sitting to reduce cases of muscle pains and other complications.
Occupational health and safety department ought to be part of any organization as it helps in enhancing the safety of all the employees. This department should focus on maintaining the health records of its employees to be in a better position to prevent future health hazards. Essentially, these health records help the organizations to determine the nature of work that each employee can handle owing to their health. Doing this ensures that the organization minimizes the risks of placing employees in a hazardous work environment. Moreover, the occupational safety departments will be in apposition to conduct occupational safety checks from time to time to establish whether the organization has any safety issues or risks. This department can benefit from adopting technological solutions, which are available to help track and mitigate occupational safety standards. One of the technological solutions is the Safety Management System, which enables the organization to evaluate its health hazards to come up with a Safety Management Risk (Friend and Kohn, 2018). The safety management risks are seen as the most effective way of committing to workers interest by giving them a safe and healthy environment.
VISUALIZING THE FUTURE
Organizations, which invest in the safety of their employees, are in the path of tapping into their employees’ potential as well as staying clear of negative publicity. Employees are happy to work in safe workstations, which reduce their worry about being victims of health-related injuries. In turn, these employees give their all thus helping organizations meet their overall objectives. Additionally, organizations that offer safe working environments are not only conducive to their employees but also to their clients. Essentially clients purchasing behaviors and loyalty are determined by how organizations treat their employees. Organizations that treat their employees with dignity are likely to have more clients than those organizations that treat their employees in an undignified manner by subjecting them to harsh working conditions.
It is possible that there are organizations, which will not invest in enhancing the safety of their employees due to ignorance of the importance of occupational safety. Such organizations will have numerous challenges and will be forced to close down their operations. For one, most of the employees will choose to resign instead of risking their health and safety. The remaining employees will be demotivated and they will not work at their optimum, which will affect the profitability and sustainability of the organization (Lin et al., 2014). Additionally, the concerned authorities will impose hefty fines and penalties on the concerned organization, which will not be good for business. In the worst-case scenario, the organization will be forced to close down its operation causing the employees to lose their income with the government losing tax revenue.
CALL TO ACTION
The issue of occupational health safety has been left entirely to the organizations and the government without considering the role of the other stakeholders. Employees have become passive which has allowed organizations to put the lives of employees at risk continually. In most cases, the employees take what they are offered as they think that they need that money so badly to survive. As a result, the employees are forced to work in harsh working condition, which put their lives at risk (Jung & Makowsky, 2014). The organizations then take advantage of this passivity to rip off the employees of their input, energy, time, and expertise to rake in huge profits. It is high time that employees and other stakeholders took a more proactive approach by becoming part of the solution instead of complaining about their fate. One way of enhancing their safety is demanding to have representatives in the organization's board. Their representatives will voice out their occupational safety before they claim lives or lead to maiming injuries.
The regulatory bodies still have a lot to do to ensure that the workers are protected from both the obvious and hidden workplace risks. These agencies need to conduct regular and impromptu occupational safety assessments to determine whether organizations protect their employees or not. The organization that follows the occupational safety standards should be commended and encouraged to do more. On the other hand, those organizations, which are yet to put in, place occupational health and safety mechanisms, ought to be fined and penalized to enhance their compliance (Jung & Makowsky, 2014). However, it is not enough to impose hefty fines on such organizations, as the regulating bodies must conduct follow-ups to enhance compliance. The organization that fails to comply with the regulations even after the fining must be closed down and their licenses revoked. In addition to the closing down, non-compliant organizations should face charges in a court of law and forced to compensate the workers and their families. These drastic measures will help in reducing work-related injuries and fatalities.
The concerned occupational health and safety organizations and agencies must liaise to enhance the safety of all employees in both the private and public organizations. Currently, the Federal OSHA has invested heavily in ensuring that the safety objectives are met. One of the most visible initiatives of this agency is the ‘Construction Fatal Four’ which aims to end the four most common hazards for the construction workers. According to the US Department of Labor falls, electrocutions, caught in between and being struck objects contributed to 60 percent of all deaths affecting construction workers in 2017. Over time OSHA has managed to bring down the number of deaths from 38 workers a day to the current 14 deaths a day, which is an indicator, that it can be done. This initiative of ridding threats should be replicated in all organizations to increase worker safety across the nation.
In conclusion, the increasing work-related injuries and deaths is an indication that the concerned authorities are not doing enough to secure their employees. Instead of investing in employees’ health and safety, most organizations channel these funds to marketing campaigns, which are more likely to raise the organization's visibility and productivity. Such organizations forget that employees are at the heart of the organization as they are capable of determining an organizations direction. Poor occupational safety standards have led to low productivity in employees, as they are not able to work at their optimum, which in turn affects organization profitability. This situation can be reversed if the employees realize that they have a role to play in championing for safer and friendly working conditions. On the other hand, the organizations must invest in their employee's’ safety by providing ample lighting, flexible working schedule, and regular assessment. Furthermore, organizations must have an active and efficient health safety and occupational department, which maintains a safe working environment for their employees and clients. The concerned agencies and bodies can help avert this situation by imposing heftier fines and penalties for non-compliant organizations. The organization that fails to comply must be closed down to promote the occupational safety of the involved employees and stakeholders.
References
Friend, M. A., & Kohn, J. P. (2018). Fundam entals of Occupational Safety and Health . Rowman & Littlefield.
Goetsch, D. L. (2010). Occupational Safety and Health . Pearson India.
Jung, J., & Makowsky, M. D. (2014). The determinants of federal and state enforcement of workplace safety regulations: OSHA inspections 1990–2010. Journal of Regulatory Economics , 45(1), 1-33.
Klein, L. W., Miller, D. L., Balter, S., Laskey, W., Haines, D., Norbash, A., ...&Goldstein, J. A. (2009). Occupational health hazards in the interventional laboratory: time for a safer environment. Radiology , 250(2), 538-544.
Lin, K. Y., Tsai, M. H., Gatti, U. C., Lin, J. J. C., Lee, C. H., & Kang, S. C. (2014). A user-centered information and communication technology (ICT) tool to improve safety inspections. Automation in Construction , 48, 53-63.
Siqueira, C. E., Gaydos, M., Monforton, C., Slatin, C., Borkowski, L., Dooley, P., & Keifer, M. (2014). Effects of social, economic, and labor policies on occupational health disparities. American Journal of Industrial Medicine , 57(5), 557-572.
United States Department of Labor. Commonly Used Statistics: Federal OSHA coverage. Retrieved on 28 March 2019 from https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html
