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To provide a safe and healthy workplace for women and men requires a cordon de continute collegial
We need to use a global view of health where we consider physical, mental and social health factors in the work place. I beleive the most important aspect to providing a safe and healthy workplace is to involve frontline workers in identifying issues and solutions. A manager may have no idea what the physical demands of certain jobs are or how uncomfortable a female employee may be working in an office full of men. Research has shown that the workers are less likely to follow through with solutions or recommendations if they do not have some vested interest in doing so. Inclusion and participation of the actual workers makes adoption of health and safety protocols and programs more likely. Previous experience and available research literature gives us a good overview that typical or common risks include physical injuries caused by overuse type job demands or by accidents due to improper training or use of equipment and/or poor design of processes or equipment. For those issues there are a number of approaches - all of which should include asking for the front line workers to be involved in identifying issues and coming up with solutions to minimize risks (participatory ergonomics, health and safety committees, etc.). Similarly we know that mental health issues can be greatly influenced by working conditions. Production rates that are impossible to meet, too much overtime, taking work home, pressures from coworkers (sexual harrassment, bullying, etc.) and workers need to feel they have a place to report these issues without repercussions. Allowing workers to come up with solutions empowers them but also gives them a vested interest in making those solutions work.
By offering training during employee orientation that addresses topics we usually do not want to address, such as harrassment in the workplace, inappropriate behavior and effective communication. This type of training is not a one time thing but is ongoing and should be required as an annual personnel development workshop so that employers engage their employees with interactive workshops to that end and also create an environment where employees can address their concerns for safety if they are there. These concerns should be addressed to a designated entity outlined in the employee handbook before the employee starts work.
