Five Ways To Eliminate or Reduce Safety And Health Hazards And Promote Employee Well-being

NIOSH[2016]. Fundamentals of total worker health approaches: essential elements for advancing worker safety, health, and well-being. By Lee MP, Hudson H, RichardsR, Chang CC, Chosewood LC, Schill AL, on behalf of the NIOSH Office for TotalWorker Health. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for OccupationalSafety and Health. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2017-112.

 

‘Occupational health services to advise employers on improving working conditions and monitoring the health of workers cover mostly big companies in the formal sector and more than 85% of workers in small enterprises, informal sector, agriculture and migrants worldwide do not have any occupational health coverage.’

(Protecting workers' health WHO Key facts 2017)

In Africa, up to 90%of workers are employed in the informal sector, where majority have  no access to occupational health coverage.

 

We require an approach that integrates hazard-free work environment with promotion of activities that advance health and well-being of all workers. Eliminating or reducing recognized hazards in the workplace first, including those related to the organization of work itself, is the most effective means of prevention [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH 2013]. Workplace programs that adopt a Total Worker Health (TWH) approach emphasize elimination or control of workplace hazards and other contributors to poor safety, health, and well-being.

 

The Hierarchy of Controls Applied to NIOSH Total Worker Health®  prioritizes efforts to advance worker safety, health, and well-being from the traditional Hierarchy of Controls well-known to occupational safety and health practitioners. As in the traditional Hierarchy of Controls, controls and strategies are presented in descending order of effectiveness and protectiveness. The Hierarchy of Controls Applied to NIOSH Total Worker Health expands the traditional hierarchy from occupational safety and health to include controls and strategies that more broadly advance worker well-being. This is complementary to the traditional Hierarchy of Controls.

The five ways to eliminate or reduce safety and health hazards and promote employee well-being are listed below starting with the most effective:

1.   Eliminate workplace conditions that cause or contribute to worker illness and injury or otherwise negatively impact well-being. These include factors related to supervision throughout the management chain. This is instituted at the highest level of the organisation. This level is impersonal, unyielding and without customization or individual consideration.

Examples – organisational and management policies that eliminate root causes of stress, such as excess demands, unreasonable time pressures, workplace bullying, and introducing policies that provide employees with autonomy, flexibility and control over their work and schedules.  

 

2.   Replace unsafe, unhealthy working conditions or practices with safer, health-enhancing policies, programs, and management practices that improve the culture of safety and health in the workplace.

Examples – Providing company-sponsored health insurance for employees and families, replacing unhealthy food in common areas with healthy options, encouraging reporting of unsafe work practices without reprisals

 

3.   Redesign the work environment, where needed, for safety, health, and wellbeing. Remove impediments to well-being, enhance employer-sponsored benefits, and provide flexible work schedules.

Examples – Provision of ergonomic chairs, sit-stand workstations, improved shift working schedules and enhancement of employer-sponsored benefits.

 

4.   Provide safety and health education and resources to enhance individual knowledge for all employees.

Examples -Health education resources -peer-led meetings, health seminars, webcast/webinar during working time, health coaching or counselling, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).  

 

 

5.   Encourage personal change for improvements to health, safety, and wellbeing. Assist workers with individual risks and challenges; provide support for healthier choice-making.

Examples – E-mailing, Text messages, posters

 

Measuring baseline workplace risks and worker exposures to risks that may harm health sets the starting point for reference. Reassess progress periodically with open mind to find new opportunities for improvement. Long-term commitment is required for success. The employees need to be involved at every stage and their privacy and confidentiality are essential.

References

1.NIOSH [2016].Fundamentals of total worker health approaches: essential elements for advancing worker safety, health, and well-being. By Lee MP, Hudson H, Richards R, Chang CC, Chosewood LC, Schill AL, on behalf of the NIOSH Office for Total Worker Health. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2017-112.

2.Hudson H L et al. An Exploratory, Qualitative Study of How Organizations Implement the Hierarchy of Controls Applied to Total Worker Health® Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 10032

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