Some businesses are large and profitable enough to employ specialists in H & S. Smaller businesses employ consultants. The reason for this is that there are many hazards in any working place, with potentially far-reaching consequences, and expert knowledge is required to effectively identify and address them. In the US, for instance, if a firm subjects its employees to defined or recognized risks, it could be fined or shut down by OSHA. Let’s know the nature of safety and health programmers.
If workers are injured or killed, the cost of workers’ compensation insurance or similar coverage increases. Although statistics are available, studies indicate that only about half of all occupational accidents are reported.
Accidents and illnesses are not evenly distributed among employers either as some jobs are potentially dangerous, even in white-collar work.
Nature of Safety and Health Programmers
The costs of injuries and illnesses are innumerable to both employees and employers. Pain (both physical and psychological) and suffering affect the employee while there is a financial loss to both employee and employer. Employers can also suffer a damaging loss in reputation.
Man-days are lost to an employer; there are losses in productivity and additional costs to be borne. The desire to reduce suffering, the need to contain direct and indirect costs of accidents, deaths, and illnesses have moved organizations to create improved safe and healthy conditions at work.
Unions are only too concerned with workers’ safety and health. In the US, some unions subsidies interns and medical students to help study occupational health conditions in plants where their members work.
In Canada too, the Canadian Labour Congress sponsors regular health and safety conferences to increase awareness of health and safety at work.
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