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Occupational stress and mental health
Occupational stress and mental health
Occupational stress and mental health
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Introduction Canadian health and safety legislation require companies and organizations to make a commitment towards occupational health and safety. Maintaining a safe workplace environment has numerous benefits. A safe work environment can boost employee morale, increase productivity and improve job satisfaction. For companies and organizations these benefits can lead to less turnover and increased employee retention. They can also reduce absenteeism while improving the culture and image of a company or organization. Most importantly, increased safety in the workplace can lead to fewer workplace injuries and causalities. Workplace health and safety issues are different today than there were at various points of time in Canadian history. During the nineteenth and early twentieth century if a worker was a victim of workplace accident there was no compensation or requirement of the employer to support rehabilitation. Employers were not responsible for injured workers or accidents that happened in the workplace. The main legal doctrine of Assumption of Risk governed workplace hazards, which required workers to assume and accept all the risks affiliated with their occupation (Share, 2012). In the 1900 's many diseases and injuries resulted due to unsafe or hazardous working condition. "The Royal Commission on the Relations of Labour and Capital reported in 1889 that many workers were being hurt on the job and condemned the state of working conditions in several industries" (CPHA, 2012). However, the federal government at the time did not act on the results of the commission report. In 1914, the province of Ontario introduced legislation where, "workers would be eligible for guaranteed no-fault benefits from a system that was wholly funded by employers. In exchange, employers were freed from legal liability" (CPHA, 2012). This was the first time the idea came up that injured employees should be compensated no matter who was at fault for the accident. This was the sign of the beginnings of change, but perspectives on health and safety still held employees responsible and accountable for all injuries and This bill enforces, "criminal liability for occupational health and safety violations resulting in injury or death. It allows for criminal prosecution of organizations, including corporations, their representatives and those who have authority to direct the work of others." (De Guzman, 2012). Employers negligent in providing health and safety in work environment could become criminally charged, fined or sent to jail. Providing an unsafe workplace was no longer considered just as a morally unjust, but an act of crime. Health and safety in the workplace became more encompassing and broader, accepting new causes and problems that influence occupation health and safety. Health was no longer just defined as wellness of the physical body, but also wellness of the mind. Mental health is considered an area of workplace safety. On May 31, 2012 the Government of British Columbia passed Bill 14. This bill states, "a worker is entitled to compensation where a mental disorder is a reaction to (i) one or more traumatic events arising out of and in the course of a worker 's employment, or (ii) a significant work-related stressor, including bullying or harassment, or a cumulative series of significant work-related stressors, arising out of and in the course of the worker 's employment" (WorkSafeBC, 2014). Bullying and harassment are viewed as stressors that can lead to stress-related sickness and are
McGuire, C. (2011, April). Workplace Safety 100 Years Ago. Safety Compliance Letter(2524), 1-6. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=60166397&site=ehost-live&scope=site
This Act of Parliament is the core part of UK health and safety law. It places a responsibility on all bosses and managers to make sure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and well-being at work of all their staff and workers.
Section 8 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act (2005) puts the onus on the employer to ensure systems of work that are planned, organised, performed, maintained and revised as appropriate so as to be, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health. Section 19 of the Act requires the employer to conduct a risk assessment of work activities and Schedule 3 of the Act provides the general principles of prevention to ensure the safety of employees in the workplace.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was formed as an agency of the federal government that is charged with protecting workers from recognized safety hazards within the workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created as a result of passage of the “Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 in response to dangerous working conditions across the nation and as a culmination of decades of reform” (Walter, 2011, para. 5). President Richard Nixon signed the act into law on December 29, 1970 and The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was officially established on April 28, 1971 (Walter, 2011). During the 41 years on the job, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has identified and addressed numerous work hazards, as well as provided solutions to mitigate and/or avoid placing workers in unnecessary danger. OSHA regulates as enforces regulations throughout the country, however the agency does declare that “states can run their own safety and health programs as long as those programs are at least as effective as the federal program” (http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-osha.htm). The states that choose to implement their own version of the occupational safety and health plan are referred to as OSHA states, whereas those who implement no plan are required to follow the federal regulations, as set forth by OSHA. OSHA effects all workers and employers in the United States, as the desired effect of the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act is “to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources” (Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1970). OS...
Hortwitz, McCall and Horwitz (2006) examined workplace injuries using Rhode Island’s workers’ compensation claim from 1984 to 2002.When the cases were analyzed it showed that females were more likely to file claims it also showed that males suffered more from injuries that lasted longer and had higher costs. The costs associated with these claims were more than $7 million dollars there was average claim of $100 a claim. Furthermore, there were 6 deaths that were reports within the 5 year span.
The end result is that everyone wants to come to work in an environment that is stress free and safe. A business needs to make a concrete commitment to the health and security of its employees. Let’s not wait until it’s too late.
"Workplace Safety." Labour Program. Government of Canada, 17 Jan. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
This law has had a massive effect as it now means in sport everyone is
As for employees, it is essential for them to work together and cooperate with one another to prevent any accidents from occurring and to not carry out any actions that may be reckless and bring harm to their fellow colleagues. They are ultimately responsible for the safety of their colleagues and themselves. Failing to do so will not only cause mishaps but it may also result in parties being convicted for breaching this act.
The term ‘occupational health and safety’ (often abbreviated to OHS), is used describe work practices that will keep employees safe. The absence of OHS can be detrimental to a company and its workers alike, as there is a high risk of serious injury. Safety on many worksites must be the top priority for any corporation. Though at our walk-around of Juggernaut Industries, we noticed it wasn’t monitored at all. The following is a list of possible effects and laws that will remind you of the consequences.
Ensuring the health and safety of employees is of primary importance to the Organization. Organization is committed to maintaining safe facilities, sponsoring appropriate training programs, and providing necessary safety equipment. In addition, Administration and staff shall cooperatively develop appropriate procedures and regulations for ensuring employees' health and safety, with special emphasis on the handling of potentially hazardous equipment or substances and for investigating and reporting any accidents and mishaps. All newly employed staff shall be required to comply with the physical examination. Every employee must provide annually, at a minimum, an updated health history of current health problems.
One of the biggest challenges managers face in motivating employees is the ability to meet their safety needs. Because of the weak economy and high
Zanko, M & Dawson, P 2012, ‘Occupational health and safety management in organizations: A review’, International Journal of Management Reviews, vol. 14, no. 3, p 328-344, viewed 2 April 2014, http://ro.uow.edu.au/commpapers/2832/.
Although workplace accidents are very common, the majority of them can be prevented. As a company, you are obliged by the law to protect your employees, so it is important to take the necessary actions that will minimize the risk of accidents (Intelligent HQ, 2015).
In the early 1900s industrial accidents were commonplace in this country; for example, in 1907 over 3,200 people were killed in mining accidents. At this time legislation and public opinion all favored management. There were few protections for the worker's safety. Today's industrial employees are better off than their colleagues in the past. Their chances of being killed in an industrial accident are less than half of that of their predecessors of 60 years ago. According to National safety Council (NSC), the current death rate from work-related injuries is approximately 4 per 100,000, or less than a third of the rate of 50 years ago. Improvements in safety up to now have been the result of pressure for legislation to promote health and safety, the steadily increasing cost associated with accidents and injuries, and the professionalization of safety as an occupation. When the industrial sector began to grow in the United States, hazardous working conditions were commonplace. Following the Civil War, the seeds of the safety movement were sown in this country. Factory inspection was introduced in Massachusetts in 1867. In 1868 the first barrier safeguard was patented. In 1869 the Pennsylvania legislature passed a mine safety law requiring two exits from all mines. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was established in 1869 to study industrial accidents and report pertinent information about hose accidents. The following decade saw little progress in the safety movement until 1877, when the Massachusetts legislature passed a law requiring safeguards for hazardous machinery. In 1877 the Employers' Liability Law was passed. In 1892, the first safety program was established in a steel plant in Illinois, in response to the explosion of a flywheel in that company.