Chapter 13 Employee Safety, Health, and Wellness Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-1
Workplace Safety
Occupational Safety and Health Administration Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 created Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Requires employers to provide safe and healthy place to work Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-3
General Duty Clause Employers have a responsibility to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards that cause or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-4
Violation of the General Duty clause To prove a violation of the general duty clause, OSHA has to demonstrate that: 1) a condition or activity in the workplace presented a hazard 2) the employer or its industry recognized this hazard 3) the hazard was likely to cause death or serious physical harm 4) a feasible, effective means existed to eliminate or materially reduce the hazard 13-5
Possible Financial Penalties Serious hazard citation has maximum penalty of $7,000 Willful citation might have maximum amount of $70,000 per violation If 10 employees were exposed to one hazard the employer intentionally did not eliminate, penalty amount would jump to $700,000 Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-6
Those Who Repeatedly Violate Health and Safety Standards Severe Violator Enforcement Program Increases inspections at worksites where recalcitrant employers have repeatedly violated safety regulations and endangered workers Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-7
OSHA and Whistleblowers OSHA enforces whistleblower protection provisions for 21 statutes, not just about workplace safety Act prohibits discharging or retaliating against any employee because employee exercised rights under OSHA Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-8
OSHA and Small Business Providing safe environment is also important for small businesses OSHA provides help for small businesses On-site consultation service Helps small business owners improve their workplace safety and health Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-9
Results From OSHA OSHA helped cut workplace fatalities since 1970 by more than 60% and occupational injury and illness by 40% Over same period, U.S. employment more than doubled: from 56 million workers at 3.5 million work sites to 125 million workers at more than double the number of work sites Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-10
Safety has Economic Impact Job-related deaths and injuries extract high toll in terms of human misery Significant costs passed along to consumer Everyone affected (directly or indirectly) by deaths and injuries Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-11
Focus of Safety Programs Safety programs accomplish their purposes by addressing: Unsafe employee actions Unsafe working conditions Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-12
Unsafe Employee Actions: Prevention Create psychological environment and employee attitudes that promote safety Training and orientation of new employees emphasizing safety Attitude must permeate the firm s operations Strong company policy emphasizing safety and health Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-13
Job Hazard Analysis Key to determining and implementing necessary controls, procedures, and training Multistep process designed to study and analyze task or job, then break down task into steps to eliminate associated hazards OSHA publication Job Safety Analysis provides overview on performing job hazard analysis Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-14
Reasons for Top Management Support Personal loss Financial loss to injured employees Lost productivity Higher insurance premiums Possibility of fines or imprisonment Social responsibility Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-15
Superfund Amendments Reauthorization Act, Title III (SARA) Requires businesses to communicate more openly about hazards associated with materials they use and produce, and wastes they generate SARA has been around since 1986 Hazard communication standard often leads the list of OSHA violations Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-16
Developing a Safety Program Employee involvement gives sense of accomplishment Larger firms may have safety engineer - staff member who coordinates overall safety program In case of accident investigation: Safety engineer and line manager jointly investigate accidents Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-17
OSHA Injury Frequency Rate Major safety metric Calculated by: (Recordable Injuries x 200,000*) (Number of hours worked) * 200,000 is equivalent to 100 full-time employees working 40 hours/week, 50 weeks per year. Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-18
Musculoskeletal Disorders Conditions that affect a body s muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and nerves Cost U.S. companies $61.2 billion annually from lost productivity Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-19
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) Pressure on median nerve that occurs as result of narrowing wrist passageway that houses the nerve Repetitive stress injury, develops in people who use their hands and wrists repeatedly in same way CTS is preventable or its severity can be reduced Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-20
Ergonomics Process of designing workplace to support capabilities of people and job/task demands Goal is to fit machine and work environment to people Attempts to structure work conditions so they: Maximize energy conservation Promote good posture Allow workers to function without pain or impairment Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-21
Workplace Bullying and Workplace Violence OSHA defines workplace violence as: Physical assault Threatening behavior Verbal abuse Hostility or harassment NIOSH estimates 1.7 million workers are injured each year and more than 800 die as result of workplace violence Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-22
Workplace Bullying and Workplace Violence (more) Bullying is continual hostile workplace conduct that deliberately hurts another person Emotional (ridicule and jokes, even staring) Verbal (screaming, verbal abuse) Physical (shoving, invading personal space) Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-23
Employees Vulnerable to Workplace Violence Among the most vulnerable: Employees at gas stations and liquor stores Taxi drivers Police officers Convenience store managers working night shifts Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-24
Domestic Violence Unexpected threat in workplace, both to women and companies Easiest place to find victim is at his/her workplace Can have impact on firm s bottom line Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-25
Legal Consequences of Workplace Violence Civil lawsuits claiming negligent hiring or negligent retention Negligent retention: Company keeps person on payroll whose records indicate strong potential for wrongdoing, fails to take steps to defuse possible violent situation OSHA s general duty clause Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-26
Laws Related to Domestic Violence Family Violence Prevention and Services Act: Helps prevent domestic violence and provide shelter and victim assistance Violence Against Women Act: Created federal criminal laws and additional grant programs within HHS and Department of Justice Violence Against Women and DOJ Reauthorization Act: Mandated study of prevalence of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking among men, women, youth, and children Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-27
Characteristics to Monitor for Workplace Violence Certain behaviors can signal a problem: Erratic behavior Increased irritability or hostility Reduced quality of work Poor organizational and time management skills Absenteeism Appearance of physical exhaustion Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-28
Preventive Actions Two parts to violence prevention: Process in place to help with early detection of worker anger Supervisors and HR staff trained in how to skillfully handle difficult employment issues Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-29
Employee Wellness 13-30
Employee Wellness Traditional view: Health dependent on medical care and is absence of disease View is changing Optimal health can be achieved through environmental safety, organizational changes, and healthy lifestyles Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) provide the structure within which companies offer wellness initiatives Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-31
Social Networks and Wellness Employers increasingly are adopting social networking to strengthen wellness programs Social networks bring employees together and work to increase peer support Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-32
Nature of Stress Body s nonspecific reaction to any demand made on it Potential consequences include diseases that are leading causes of death May even lead to suicide Stressful job characteristics include lack of employee control at work Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-33
Potential Consequences of Stress If severe enough and persists long enough, can be harmful Cardiovascular disease Depression Immune system disorders Alcohol- and drug abuse Headaches, spasms, overeating Heads list of changeable health risks Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-34
Twelve Most Stressful Jobs 1. Laborer 2. Secretary 3. Inspector 4. Clinical lab technician 5. Office manager 6. Supervisor 7. Manager/administrator 8. Waitperson 9. Machine operator 10. Farm owner 11. Miner 12. Painter Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-35
Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) Comprehensive approach to deal with numerous problem areas such as: Burnout Alcohol and drug abuse Other emotional disturbances Primary concern is getting employees to use program Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-36
Burnout Individuals lose sense of basic purpose and fulfillment of work Body or mind can no longer handle overwhelmingly high demands Costs: Reduced productivity, higher turnover Individuals in helping professions seem to be most susceptible to burnout Danger: can be contagious! Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-37
Physical Fitness Programs Most commonly offered in-house corporate wellness programs involve efforts to promote exercise and fitness Reduce absenteeism, accidents and sick pay Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-38
Substance Abuse Use of illegal substances or misuse of controlled substances On-the-job substance abusers are threeand-a-half times more likely to be involved in a workplace accident Between 10% and 20% of nation's workers who die on the job test positive for alcohol or drugs Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-39
Alcohol Abuse Medical disease characterized by uncontrolled and compulsive drinking that interferes with normal life 40% of workplace fatalities and 47% of workplace injuries are related to alcohol consumption Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-40
Substance-Abuse-Free Workplace Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 Requires some federal contractors and all federal grantees to agree they will provide drug-free workplaces Condition of receiving a contract or grant from a federal agency Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-41
Steps for Establishing a Substance-Abuse-Free Workplace Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-42
Substance Abuse Testing Most employers use urine testing Experts regard blood tests as forensic benchmark against which to compare others Hair sample analysis can detect drug use from 3-90 days after Oral fluid testing is well-suited to cases of reasonable suspicion and to post-accident testing New method able to detect drugs and other substances from sweat in fingerprints Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 13-43