Occupational Health Plan and Hazards among Health Care Workers

Question: Discuss about the Occupational Health plan and Safety. Answer: Introduction The occupational health and safety of the employees working in an organisation is very vital. The employees and the workers of the organisation are the necessary components as the result of the role of the employees in the organisation for the accomplishing the objectives of the company. The organisation for achieving the sustainable growth and the success of the company needs the motivated and the healthy staff (Gochfeld et al., 2006). It is the duty of the organisation to provide the workers with a working environment free from health hazards. The organisation where there is a lack of safety measures can create the havoc for the company and with this result into the negative effect on the working criteria of the company. The management of the organisation has to implement the operational health management plan and the standards at the workplace for reducing hazards and accidents in an organisation (Gochfeld et al., 2006). The hazardous and the unsafe working conditions in the workplace may result in the long term physiological and psychological consequences for the organizations and the workers (Ghosh, 2013). The occupational health plan demonstrates the commitment of the organisation towards the health of the workplace by providing the clear written statement of the action plan for the prevention of the occupational illness, injuries and the accidents (Ghosh, 2013). In the task will discuss the occupational health management plan organised by the retailing company dealing in the supermarket for the health and the wellbeing of the employees related to the hazard mental stress among the employees of the company. The organisation occupies the sufficient space for each and every department and for the employees of the organisation. The company is the supermarket store and provides each and every household product. At present in the company around 500 employees are working under one roof with different duty shifts. The employees of the company work 8-10 hours in a day and are exposed to the mental stress with the long working hours. The stress related to the work is recognised globally as one of the major challenges for the employer. An employee in the workplace feels stressed at the times when the work demand exceeds the resources and the abilities of the employee and they feel that they are not going with the different situations at the workplace. Certain work and non work related factors resulted in the mental stress among the employees this itself is not a disease, but have the negative impact on the person performance when is in excess and is long lasting (Gochfeld et al., 2006). Occupational Health Hazard and the related risk: The mental stress in the workplace is the result of the poor work design of the organisation and also the management with this the poor social context may also result in the physical, psychological and the social outcomes that are related to the mental stress (Bukhtiyarov, Rubtsov, Yushkova, 2016). The conditions of the organisation which leads to the physiological and the mental stress is the excessive workload in the workplace; the conflicting demands and with no clarity of the role, no involvement in making the decisions, organisational changes are managed poorly with no job security, lack of the management support, ineffective communication among the management and the employees and the third party violence with sexual and psychological harassment are few of the causes of mental stress among the employees (Bukhtiyarov, Rubtsov, Yushkova, 2016). Work related stress, in turn, increases the risk of the psychological illness and injuries which include the anxiety, depression, burnout, suicide and emotional distress. On the other hand mental stress also results in the physical illness and injuries which further contributes to the musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disorders and immune deficiency (Jespersen, Hasle, 2016). Mental stress, in turn, increases the risk of decreased employee performance with reduced efficiency and productivity, increases the risk of the absenteeism among the employees, increased conflicts, accidents and injuries among the employees. Risk assessment is the process where on identifies the hazards and evaluate or analysis the risk associated with the hazard (Jespersen, Hasle, 2016). Risk assessment forms an integral part of the occupational health management plan. Risk assessments identify the circumstances which result in the mental stress among the employees; the durat ion and frequency of employee exposure towards the work-related stress, for example, risk related to the health and safety occurs with the time or is build up as the result of the single incident; probability of the occurrence of the work-related stress if the identified factor are not controlled (Jespersen, Hasle, 2016). Legal Requirements and Ethical consideration: The company needs to follow The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. Under the act, the company conducts the programme for improving the quality of the workplace and training the employees with the health plans which are to be beneficial at the time of mental stress (Lkke, Madsen, 2014). Under the OHS act, it is the duty of the managers to act accordingly for preventing the injuries through the mental which occurs in the workplace. Under the act, the managers are to be aware of the risk factors and are also to be aware of the work climate of the company and to act according to in the situations to prevent the mental stress among the employees. The employees have the work related illness and need the professional medical assistance is to be recorded on the part of the OHS plan and is responsible for writing the incident report related to the mental illness (Lkke, Madsen, 2014). The management under ethical consideration identifies the resources which are responsible for the ment al stress and causes potential harm to the employee health and wellbeing. Conduct regular meetings for the employees to share their thoughts and remove any issues which are faced by the employees (Lkke, Madsen, 2014). In the OHS plan, the organisation is to provide and maintain the safe systems for the working of the employees. Equally distributing the work among the employees and no employee is to be overburdened with the work. Requirement of changes: The changes are required in the organisation culture and structure of the workplace. Employees are to get the required space for them in the organisation (Mattaliano, 2010). With this for reducing the level of stress among the employees then there is to be decrease in the complexity of the working procedures, tasks, providing the employees with the possibility of expressing their opinions to their supervisors or the management with this the employees for lightening the work load is to be provided with the relaxing room where they can relax at the time of stress and providing them the programmes which are social and is related to the sports and the material benefits such as the Lunch at times (Mattaliano, 2010). Changes may be done in the physical environment which energies the employee for the work and a collaborative approach to the organisation to manage occupational health among the employees and the management. Changes in the overall culture of the organisation and also changes or improvement in the resiliency skills of the employees through counselling can bring great changes in the behaviour of the employee which will also reduce the work stress. Occupation health safety committee is formed in the company which is the forum for the cooperative participation of the employees representing both the management and the labour which will assist in bringing the system of the internal responsibility into the practice; changes in the overall culture of the organisation for removing the stress from the employees. Control measurement of the management: The risk control measures so as to control the specific work-related stress is required to target the environmental and the organisational factors concerned to the workplace and also the specific situations of the individuals. The interventions which are the risk control measures to hold the work-concerned stress might be ineffective at times if these are not targeted at the required level (Mayhew, 2003). Some examples of the risk control measures which can be placed in order to manage the acute risk of the staff work-related tensions and stress might include: the overall developing the skills of supervisor plus the managerial skills by mentoring (Painter, Elliot, 2004), coaching and also by training to comprehensively improve the support that is provided to the staff ; proper and adequate planning the workloads to carefully address the job demands plus the levels of the control; build up of the clear performance outcomes and the accountability to make sure that the role clarity is there reassessing the description of the job to make sure that the role is clear (Mayhew, 2003). Setting up of innovative and new HR procedures and also to ensure proper implementation of the current Human resource plans and procedures and ensure control clarity and as well as the improved support at times and conditions where required giving assistance to enhance the level of job and work support; properly communicating with the staff in regard to the availability of help in addressing the job demands as well as the levels of proper control (Mayhew, 2003). To give a check at the staff implementation and understanding of the alteration as a part of the change management; ensuring the complete effective as well as early intervention so as to improve the support that is provided to the staff and also ensure the proper quality of acute relationships (Painter, Elliot, 2004). Occupational Health programme The conducted sessions of the health plan related to the Occupational health, safety will increase the individual awareness of resiliency and efforts for releasing the stress in work. The improved skills through the OHS plan will increase the satisfaction level of the employees related to the work. The plan helps in maintaining the work life balance among the employees and thus reducing the level of stress among the employees (Park, 2002). The desired outcome of the organisation as a result of the plan individuals is aware of the process of resiliency and efforts are made for improving the stress. The plan increases the satisfaction level with the positive reactions of the employees towards the management practices. Improvement in the physical environment alleviates the stress (Park, 2002). The policy satisfies the employees and increases the work life balance among the employees, which also results in the reduction of the stress among the employees. The long term goals of the plan a re to create the resilient and supportive workplace for the individuals to work. Create a workplace with the health promotion programmes having the on-site facilities that offer the different range of the classes and programmes related to the physical activities (Podgrski, 2010). Activities involved in developing and implementing the programme The activities involved in the development of the plan are to link the plan with the strategies, facilitating the changes required in the plan (Arntz-Gray, 2016). The activities involved in the plan may include the events related to the task, counselling services, and self help. Methods and tools used for the evaluation: The process of evaluation includes the method and tools used are the survey and the questionnaires and also arranging seminars for the employees, which help in the further improvement and implication of the plan (Arntz-Gray, 2016). Conclusion: Success and future flourishing of retailing business are dependent on the large degree of the quality of the place where the task in being performed or done a thorough successful management is very vital to ensure that the task shall be a positive result oriented and outcome one (Trakoli, 2010). The experienced staff and management are well equipped with the knowledge and expertise so as to bring about bright colours for the organisation, they are a good assert for the firm as their experience shall make sure that the risks factors are reduced and they immerge with positive and profitable results. The Employer or the owner is to make sure that all of his/her staff members are pretty safe in the workplace, and the atmosphere is very innovative plus boosting one. They are to properly take care of the needs of the staff and keep them energized working throughout. Their small and big valid demands should be met so that they are happy to refer the behaviour of their seniors towards them (Trakoli, 2010). Further, the employer is to see that all the rules and regulations are being followed up by the staff and there is no undue practice which is the main aim of the firm or which may turn up to be a hurdle in their way. Team work is the key to success, the employer is supposed to take along with the employee, and ensure proper implementation of the firms task along with the personal benefits of the staff as well. References Arntz-Gray, J. (2016). Plan, Do, Check, Act: The need for independent audit of the internal responsibility system in occupational health and safety.Safety Science,84, 12-23. Bukhtiyarov, I., Rubtsov, M., Yushkova, O. (2016). Occupational stress as a result shift system of work as a risk factor for health problems of workers.Health Risk Analysis, (3), 110-121. Ghosh, T. (2013). 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