A quick guide to workplace safety

What is workplace safety?

Workplace safety refers to the policies, procedures, and practices designed to protect employees from harm while they're on the job.  It involves maintaining a safe working environment, preventing injuries, and proactively reducing or eliminating potential risks and hazards.

Why is workplace safety important?

Workplace safety is an essential part of any working environment. Per the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), “a safe workplace is sound business.” Having robust policies and processes for a safer workplace can help reduce injuries, work-related ill health cases, fatalities, sicknesses, and deaths, which can boost employee morale and productivity, as they will feel protected. Fewer workplace injuries can also benefit the company financially due to reduced insurance premiums and money spent on equipment repairs, leading to a better safety reputation. This is also echoed by Safe Work Australia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also strongly advocates for general occupational health and safety. A study from 2017 shows that around 12 million people of active working age, mostly in developing countries, die from noncommunicable or chronic diseases yearly, and in turn, work-related health issues have led to an economic loss of 4–6% in most countries’ GDP.

Following this, WHO’s research has shown that workplace initiatives can reduce sick leaves and other health complications from worsening by 27%, and reduce company healthcare costs by 26%.

Therefore, WHO encourages:

• Countries to develop policies and actions on a national level to encourage private and public entities to do the same

• Companies to create intervention plans for different types of injuries and hazards depending on the nature of work

• Officials and company leaders to collaborate with relevant health groups and leaders to create safety and health-related programs focused on dealing with diseases, injuries, mental health, and environmental health

What are the most common workplace safety issues?

The most common workplace safety issues and workplace hazards can be divided into the following:

• Human factors

• Health hazards

• Environmental factors

Human Factors

Human factors pertain to the environmental, organizational, and job factors affecting an individual. These factors can influence human behavior at work across all industries from retail to manufacturing, which can result in unsafe conditions, behaviors, and practices.

This includes one’s:

• Job-related tasks such as:

  • Tasks to be done at work and their workload

  • Daily work patterns

• Organizational environment, such as:

  • Workplace design, culture, and environment

  • Team and leaders

  • Incidents of violence

  • Communication with others

  • Resources at work

• Individual characteristics, such as:

  • Capability and competence

  • Attitudes

  • Risk tolerance

  • Psychological state

Human factors often affect workers in subtle ways that build up over time, affecting their psychological safety and health. While psychological safety in the workplace may not manifest in such a way that is clear to the naked eye, multiple internal and external factors, such as organizational stress, mental health illness, financial issues, bullying and harassment, and substance misuse, can affect their work and physical state, regardless of their industry.

Large-scale life-changing events can also be considered human factors that can affect workplace safety. Events such as pandemics, international conflicts, and detrimental changes in political climate can not only affect one’s work style, psychological state, and productivity, but also their overall safety.

Health Hazards

Health hazards pertain to items that can affect one’s health. Chemical hazards such as dust, gases, vapors, fluids, and liquids or solids that can cause burns, irritations, occupational dermatitis, and respiratory issues are one of the most well-known hazards to affect health, as handling them can lead to burns, inhalation of dangerous gasses, and allergic reactions that can lead to further complications.

Inadequate housekeeping leading to scattered or misplaced equipment can also pose a threat to workplace safety. Things like tangled wires, unplugged machines, and broken items can not only negatively impact work processes, but can also cause injuries to its users and those around them. This goes for chemical items as well.

Other common hazards to health and workplace safety are:

• Biological hazards from improper waste management, especially from liquid or toxic wastes, which can lead to radiation

• Physical ergonomic safety risk factors such as heavy lifting without training and other repetitive motions done in succession and for long periods of time including but not limited to squatting, standing, sitting, and digging

While these may be considered essential parts of certain jobs and industries, improper execution and inadequate training can injure or cause life-changing injuries to people, sometimes even leading them to their deaths.

The industries that are most at risk of encountering health hazards are:

• Construction

• Manufacturing

• Health services

• Aviation

• Mining

• Oil and gas

Environmental Factors

Environmental factors are factors based on one’s workplace or immediate work environment. The most common environmental factors affecting workplace safety are weather conditions, especially for those who do field work such as construction workers, electrical workers, and oil and gas excavators. Generally, these people are advised to be cautious when working with high and strong winds, tall heights, heavy rains, and hot weather conditions.

Excessive or low levels of noise can also be a cause of concern in the workplace; if there is a need to raise one’s voice constantly to be heard, there can be a noise issue, which can also affect the quality of work done. Similarly, a problem with lighting can also affect workplace safety, as too much or inadequate lighting may increase the risk of injury due to reduced visibility. Sudden changes in lighting can also cause momentary blindness or eye dryness, which can lead to migraines.

Extreme changes in temperature, such as reaching temperatures that are too hot or too cold in one’s environment, can also affect workplace safety. Sudden, rapid changes can stress the body, hindering it from working effectively.

How Do You Know if Your Workplace is Safe?

Generally, a safe workplace should first begin with employers or company leaders actively promoting workplace safety and health programs. They are encouraged to start small and then move on to creating and maintaining large-scale programs and initiatives, and improving on them as needed. They may start by conducting a safety audit, to identify areas in the workplace that require actions to promote safety. Employees should also be involved in these, especially in the creation of systems that deal with identifying and addressing hazards. Managing workplace safety should be the priority and basis of all work-related tasks. For example, in education, teachers, staff, and parents can all have a say in complying with federal school safety laws, as long as it benefits everyone.

Additionally, based on the Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) perspective, the quality of safety is just one of the many outcomes of work. The HOP perspective is focused on improving existing work and work conditions as a way to build capacity and ensure business success. A safe workplace will produce great work, and great work is indicative of a workplace and work environment that cares about the safety of its employees.

In terms of what a safe workplace should look like, the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has the following standards:

• Steady and stable office or building architecture

• Well-lit working spaces, with a balance of natural and synthetic light

• Safe passages for people and vehicles

• Level flooring all around and inside the work area

• Protective handrails and other barriers where necessary

• Clean floors, rooms, furniture, walls, toilets, sinks, and ceilings

• Regular cleaning and waste disposal and management schedules

• Easily accessible potable water available at all times

• Reasonable working temperatures and proper ventilation and heating systems

• Safety signs and signals around hazards