Health and Safety in Organizations
Health refers to the absence of any form of illness and is the well-being state. The definition can mean so many things, depending on the perspective from which it is looked at. However, the key element in it is that when something is said to be healthy, there must be well-being, and there should be no sign of illness. In the context of organizations, healthy and safe organizations are those that do not harm employees in any way; and are free from illness. The presence of health in such organizations is demonstrated by the capability of growth that those organizations have; in addition to, the ability of the organization to adapt to different challenges.
The first aspect of health and safety in organizations has to do with occupational health and safety. The ILO states that employers are required to protect their workers from disease, sickness, or injury which may arise from their jobs. ILO indicates that over two million workers lose their lives each year due to work related diseases and accidents. A staggering 160 million suffer from diseases related to their work; while another 270 million people face accidents related to their work each year. The accidents are both fatal and non-fatal accidents. While it is difficult to put a number on the value of lives lost; or on the loss caused to the workers and their families, the ILO estimates that the world’s annual GDP declines by 4 percent annually as a result of lack of occupational health and safety. To put this into perspective, there is loss of skilled labor, employers facing very high early retirement costs, payment of very high insurance premiums as a result of work-related diseases and accidents. Nonetheless, these are tragedies that can be prevented if the proper standards are implemented.
The other aspect of health and safety in organizations is the provision of good working conditions, which enables employees and the organization to grow. This means the organization should offer good compensation for the efforts workers put into growing the organizations, and guarantee workers an environment of growth, sustainability, and adaptability. On the other hand, workers are obliged to thrive and excel in training initiatives offered, by the organizations, to promote customer satisfaction, revenue generation, and healthy relations between all stakeholders.