Organizational Health and Safety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organizational Health and Safety - Essay Example Harris (2007) proposes preventive OHS strategies that can be used to provide to an employee-friendly environment in modern organizations. He proposes that the best strategy to control risk factors in the working environment is to institute mitigation measures as a pro-active action to guarantee employee safety, rather than compensate them while they risk their lives. In his view, this would include protective clothing for technical personnel, gas masks for individual working in environments with chemical gases and chemical treatment of gases before their release.The government in many states has instituted government policies to regulate pollution and the health and safety issues that arise within organizations as a strategy of protecting the community. In the UK, the British non-departmental civic body provided regulations to safeguard the health of the employees in their occupations.Other OHS activists have suggested an integrated strategy that includes risk mitigation and employee compensation to ensure a healthy working environment (Andonakis & Loosemore, 2006). Â   In conclusion, Organizational Health and Safety has become a major concern for the human resource management in most of the states. The changes in the working environment have resulted from the incentives of companies to integrate technology in every business aspect, hence bringing a whole new environment in the workplace. It has predisposed certain groups of employees to higher risks of suffering from injury or illnesses resulting from the environment they work in.... In the last 30 years, industrial revolution has become evident in most parts of the world including UK (Holmes & Gifford, 2002); most countries have engaged in industrial development as a strategy to develop their economic status by providing cost effective goods and providing employment for the majority of employees. The industries have attracted many employees in the diverse departments of the organization and the economic benefit that has resulted from this kind of trend cannot be undermined. However, this has brought a new challenge to the employees’ health and safety welfare due to the environmental impact of these industries. For instance, petroleum industries have become a great threat not only to the health of employees but to the world at large. The emissions associated with these companies contain a lot of harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and sulfur-dioxide which is known for their atmospheric pollution. This has become a demotivation for employees in this secto r and their withdrawal has had adverse effects on productivity of these companies. In brief, changes in the industrial sector has changed the working environment, exposing its employees to toxic gases that may are hazardous to their lives. Another change that has impacted on the health and safety issues in the work environment is the introduction of sophisticated technology in the workplace. The investment of many companies in the IT technology has been emphasized due to the technological demands of the dynamic market conditions. It is indisputable that introduction of this technology has come along with numerous merits in the transformation of service efficiency. With implementation of LAN technology it is possible for managers to