Chapter 13

1. Chapter 13 Meeting Employee Safety & Health Needs

2. Linking Employee Safety & Health to Competitive Advantage • Biggest challenges facing employers today is the safety and health of their workers • BLS—2000 5.6 million nonfatal work related injuries and over 5,000 fatal ones • Health of U.S. workforce is declining due to unhealthy lifestyles: • High risk for heart attacks, cancer, and strokes

3. Linking Employee Safety & Health to Competitive Advantage • We need to reduce workplace accidents and illnesses—cost employers over $60 billion a year: for medical and insurance costs, workers’ compensation, survivor benefits, lost wages, damaged equipment and materials, production delays, other workers’ time losses, selection and training costs for replacement workers, and accident reporting

4. Government Regulation of Safety & Health Practices at the Workplace • Occupational Safety & Health Act—1970 • Most comprehensive and wide-ranging legislation in this area • Setting and enforcing workplace safety standards • Promoting employer-sponsored educational programs that foster safety and health • Requiring employers to keep records regarding job-related safety and health matters • Covers employers with 10 or more ees

5. Government Regulation of Safety & Health Practices at the Workplace • OSHA conducts investigations based on the following: • Imminent danger—death or serious injury to employees • Fatality or catastrophic investigations—sites experiencing an accident where at least one ee has died and five or more have been hospitalized • Employee complaint investigations—to ee complaints—speed depends on seriousness of complaint • Targeted industries—construction, shipbuilding, food processing, logging, and nursing homes (nursing is a big one)

6. Government Regulation of Safety & Health Practices at the Workplace • Employee Right-to-Know Law—let’s workers know what type of hazardous materials they are dealing with on the job Discuss Employers Right-to-Know Law page 411 • How do employers violate OSHA Hazard Communication Standards? Failing to have: • Written hazard communication programs • Training programs for teaching ees about the chemicals they work with • Material safety data sheets at the work site • Properly labeled chemical containers

7. ADA • Protected by ADA if he or she is disabled, that is, if the individual has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the individual’s major life activities • Key is how to handle job placement • If a disability prevents one from performing one or more of the essential functions of the job employers must try to accommodate the individual

8. ADA • Penalties: • $50,000 for individual violations • $100,000 for each subsequent violation • Civil Rights Act of 1991 allows up to $300,000 for punitive damages for “willful” violations

9. Accidents & Accident Prevention • Causes of Workplace Accidents: • Employee error • Equipment insufficiency • Procedure insufficiency • Accident Prevention Strategies --Employee selection—some individuals are more likely than others to be involved in industrial accidents (impulsive and rebellious and blame outside forces rather than themselves)

10. Accidents & Accident Prevention • Characteristics: • Risk taking • Impulsiveness • Rebelliousness • Hostility Many orgs now use personality tests to screen out individuals with accident prone personalities

11. Accidents & Accident Prevention • Employee training • Safety incentive programs—reducing accident lost time accidents by 50% over the next three months—meet or exceed target a bonus is paid out Downside—sometimes an ee will conceal an injury in order to receive award

12. Employee Health Problems & Organizational Interventions • Orgs are also concerned with ee health • Types of disorders? • Repetitive motion disorders—most common is carpal tunnel syndrome Orders are becoming epidemic. These are now the leading cause of occupational injuries in the U.S. • Strategies in dealing with repetitive motion disorders: --ergonomics—science of designing and arranging workstations so that people and material interact safely and efficiently --ee training—DiscussExhibit 13-1 on page 418

13. Employee Health Problems & Organizational Interventions • Other Problems? --Aids --Substance Abuse—1988 Drug Free Workplace Act (Exhibit 13-3) --blood and urine tests --random drug testing --test for suspicion • EAP

14. Employee Wellness • This is a new HRM focus—seeks to eliminate certain debilitating health problems (e.g., cancer, heart disease, respiratory problems, hypertension • All cause by poor lifestyle choices (i.e., smoking, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, obesity) • 55% of all medical claims are a result of cancer, heart, and respiratory illnesses

15. Employee Wellness • What are the consequences? • Absenteeism • Turnover • Lost productivity • Increased medical costs

16. Employee Wellness Programs • What are they? • Physical fitness facilities • On-site health screening • Programs to help quit smoking, manage stress, and improve nutritional habits • Outcomes of wellness program? • Reduces absenteeism • Reduces turnover • Increases productivity • Reduce high-risk to medium risk and medium risk to low risk

17. Other Issues • Workplace stress—ulcers, colitis, hypertension, headaches, lower back pain, and cardiac conditions • Worker must learn to cope with stress through proper diet and exercise • Workplace violence