There are certain specific ‘Potential Barriers’ to upgrading good standards of Occupational Health and Safety because of which organizations might not be able to achieve or maintain safety standards and the well-being of their employees.
Occupational safety and health (OSH) is the understanding and knowledge of the estimation, evaluation, and prevention of risk of hazards flaming up at or from the workplace.
It could dissipate the health and well-being of employees including the eventual influence on the communities and the surrounding environment. To coordinate and implement updated OSH systems, to protect both workers and the environment, a wide range of skills, knowledge, and analytical abilities are needed.
Perpetration in acquiring good standards of health and safety injuries and fatalities as well as loss in assets might increase.
Some of the ‘Potential Barriers’ to achieve good standards in occupational health and safety are as follows:
Complex Workplaces
Sometimes workplaces are complex which means several people doing several different activities at the same time and the same place. In this case, it might be difficult to maintain good standards of health and safety for every person or activity.
Intricate Issues
Finding the solution to the problems of complicated or complex health and safety might be difficult. Some solutions are effortless and for some issues, several actions are required with different good and bad outcomes.
So lack of efficiency and understanding might be a major barrier to promoting good standards of health and safety and the improper solution might result in an increased number of disasters.
Irrelevant Demands
Employers sometimes force irrelevant demands on workers. A common irrelevant is ‘demand to increase and speed up the production or service to make a profit.
This will compromise the safety of the workers. So the irrelevant demand becomes a “barrier” to maintaining good standards of health and safety and may raise accident rates to high.
Behavioral Issues
Hardware malfunction and procedural modifications will be worthless if workers do not behave abstractly. Weak morale and low motivation toward safety importance may vitiate safety concerns. Sometimes employees make mistakes or violate rules and regulations and errors occur.
Human behavior is the most challenging “Potential Barrier” in maintaining and promoting good health and safety standards.
Variance of Standards
This conflict may be aroused when there is variance in types of standards at the same time and the same place so sometimes standards have to be compromised. For example, Industrial safety standards and environmental safety standards are varied in the case of Disposal of waste material.
This type of variance of standards becomes the “Potential barrier” in promoting good standards of health and safety.
Reduction of Commitment
The commitment of management as well as employees to improve the health and safety standards at the workplace is a crucial factor and should be a priority. if leadership does not demonstrate its commitment then the safety culture and morale of workers will dramatically decline resulting in an increasing number of accidents and becoming a Potential Barrier in maintaining good standards of health and safety.
Budget Issues
Due to underestimation and lack of awareness, employers consider it an extra financial burden to improve health and safety standards in the workplace and some want to improve but due to lack of resources fail to maintain it.
That’s why budget issues become a potential barrier to promoting good standards of health and safety.
Enforcement Committees
There is no enforcement agency for the health and safety laws implementation in most countries. The health and safety standards of the companies are influenced by several inspectors, their legal mandates, punishments for breaches, and the efficiency of officers.
Lack of control of such committees becomes a potential barrier to achieving improved safety standards at workplaces.
Insensibility about Standard
Employers and workers should cooperate at every step towards achieving good standards of health and safety. They should be consulted regarding health and safety matters and should be communicated all required relevant information, instructions, and training for a safe system of work.
Ignorance of health and safety standards may become a significant Potential Barrier in promoting good standards of health and safety.
Ineffectual Supervision
Poor arrangements for supervision or not taking disciplinary actions on toxic safety behavior then result in an increased number of accidents.
So poor supervision may become a Potential Barrier to maintaining good standards of health and safety at the workplace.
SEVERAL CRUCIAL BARRIERS
Those are secretly preventing your workplace from becoming safer and better.
Unclear Safety Rules & Expectations
Safety rules explained in Federal legalese may not always be easy to understand. It is more convenient to summarize safety rules and expectations in clear, concise terms than posting the “law” around.
Team leaders, managers, or supervisors have to take the time to explain safety procedures to employees in person. Employees can ask questions and clarify any misunderstanding or haziness on the spot.
Motivation to Be Safe
It’s not always easy to be safe, especially when people are toiling hard to accomplish numerous tasks within a fixed range of time. In stressful situations, it is obvious to ignore safety.
However, employers can motivate workers by giving not only verbal encouragement but also awards and recognition to those who have empathetically endorsed safety values.
Mistakes are most prone to happen when people are in a rush, tired, or both.
Excessive Workload
Properly imposing an appropriate workload to the employees such as having a reasonable shift schedule and giving your employees enough rest hours will help companies to promote good standards of health and safety.
Work Hours Duration
According to a government study, “moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication.” The study found subjects who went 17 to 19 hours without sleep had the equivalent of a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05% and a response time 50% slower than normal.
It’s strategic for employers to establish a shift schedule that gives employees enough time for perfect, ceaseless sleep, with at least 7 to 8 hours per night.
Enforcement Of Safety Rules
Companies need people to make sure that the rules must be respected and followed. Company leaders enforce and explain clearly safety rules to them. Encourage every employee to report unsafe or potentially hazardous conditions and activities to their seniors without fear of any backlash.
Complacency
Complacency is safety’s malignant threat and the most troubling problem workers have to face.To avoid complacency, workers should be given constant safety feedback during toolbox talks and meetings. Safety drills and training will also help reinforce the importance of safety and help everyone feel safe in the workplace.
Summary
In recent years, globalization has changed the world of work in both positive and negative ways. Liberalization of world trade, technological progress, shifting patterns of employment, and the size and infrastructure of companies and industries and of new technologies can generate vivid patterns of hazards, exposures, and risks.
It is very requisite to assess and find solutions to overcome the Potential Barriers to achieving good standards in occupational health and safety.
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