Health, Safety and HRM

1
Health, Safety and HRM

• Lois Tetrick
• Michael T. Ford

2
What is Health?

• Health at the individual employee level is not
  just the absence of illness but also includes
  positive health or optimal functioning

3
What is Health Continued

• Health at the organizational level now includes
  human resource factors such as turnover rates,
  the number of grievances, and the overall morale
  of employees of the organization

4
External Environment

• Four external factors affect the ways that
  organizations deal with health issues
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Rising health care insurance costs
• General workforce trends

5
Americans with Disabilities Act

• The ADA was designed to promote the employment of
  individuals with disabilities
• Disabilities are defined as impairments that
  limit one or more major life activities but do
  not prevent individuals from performing the
  essential duties of the job

6
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

• The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 requires
  employers to provide up to 12 weeks of
  job-protected leave for employees who need it for
  family or medical crises
• The FMLA does not require paid leave by the
  company

7
Rising Health Care Insurance Costs

• Per capita health care expenditures increased
  between 5 and 9 per year between 1993 and 2002
• Insurance companies provide incentives and
  support to reduce accidents and illnesses

8
General Workforce Trends

• The workforce is becoming older, includes more
  women, and is ethnically and racially diverse
  affecting internal health related issues

9
Internal Factors

• Internal factors in health and safety include
• Job stress
• Safety
• Diversity and discrimination
• Sexual harassment, violence, and incivility

10
Job Stress

• A 2002 national survey found that half of all
  workers see job stress as a major problem, which
  is over double the proportion who expressed this
  view just 10 years earlier

11
Job Role Stressors

• Role ambiguity - lack of clarity and specificity
  about ones occupational role responsibilities
• Role conflict - the presence of competing or
  incompatible role demands

12
Job Stressors Continued

• Role overload - having too much work to do, too
  little time to do that work, and/or not having
  the resources to complete the work required

13
Emerging Job Stressors

• Conflict between work and family roles
• Technological advances may blur work and
  nonwork roles
• Increased service industry jobs may require more
  emotional regulation due to frequent customer
  interaction

14
Safety

• The overall number of occupational injuries and
  days missed due to injuries has declined between
  1990 and 2005
• With the expansion of service-producing
  businesses, we have seen an increase in the
  number of deaths in the retail and transportation
  industries

15
How to Improve Safety

• Safety climate - refers to the shared perceptions
  of an organizations policies, practices, and
  procedures with respect to the priority placed on
  safety
• Work design- creating physical barriers between
  employees and known hazards

16
Technology

• Technology can lead to safety issues through
• New machinery
• Extensive computer usage

17
Diversity and Discrimination

• Discrimination is associated with negative mental
  health outcomes
• Diversity can increase stress and make
  communication with coworkers more difficult

18
Sexual Harassment, Violence, and Incivility

• Increases in the service industry will increase
  the potential for aggression from customers
• Sexual harassment may lead to psychological
  distress and overall health issues

19
HR Responses

• Organizational health and safety interventions
  can be classified into two general categories
• Initiatives that reduce and prevent strain and
  injury from occurring in the first place
• Initiatives that help to rehabilitate individuals
  who have already experienced strain and injury

20
Preventative Interventions

• Primary interventions - aimed at reducing or
  eliminating the source of strain and risk in the
  workplace and are targeted at everyone
• Secondary interventions - target individuals that
  are particularly at risk and help them to manage
  the causes of stress, strain, and injury

21
Compensation

• Financial incentives may promote safe behaviors
  as long as the incentive programs are aligned
  with other organizational systems

22
Employee Involvement and Job Enrichment

• Organizations can involve their employees in the
  development and implementation of policies and
  practices related to occupational health and
  safety

23
Diversity Training

• Diversity training can be integrated with other,
  more general training initiatives such as team
  building, mentoring programs, and management
  training

24
Work-Life Balance Initiatives

• Flexible work hours and childcare assistance
• Flexible leave options that go beyond the
  requirements of the FMLA

25
Safety Management

• Ways to target and prevent injuries
• Eliminate hazards entirely by redesigning jobs
  such that exposure to hazards is no longer
  necessary
• Block access to hazards that the organization
  cannot eliminate
• Training employees to recognize hazards and avoid
  them

26
Employee Assistance Programs

• Programs aimed at helping employees that are
  experiencing a range of personal concerns such as
  stress, family difficulties, substance abuse,
  financial troubles, and legal problems

27
Health Promotion

• Health promotion programs are aimed at increasing
  positive health behaviors such as exercise and
  relaxation techniques, while decreasing negative
  health behaviors such as smoking or unhealthy
  diets

28
Guidelines

• Conduct Health and Safety Audits
• Incorporate Health and Safety into Performance
  Appraisals
• Incorporate Health and Safety into Compensation
  Systems

29
Guidelines Continued

• Integrate the Health and Safety Functions Within
  the Organization
• Monitor the External Environment for Health and
  Safety Issues
• Promote the Importance of Health and Safety

30
Conclusion

• Environmental factors have increased the
  importance of health and safety in the workplace
• Organizations have responded with various
  initiatives
• Guidelines have been provided to promote health
  and safety in the workplace