Occupational Health and Safety at the Workplace
Occupational health and safety is a requirement for every employer nowadays and proves we have gone a long way as a society, having in mind there wasn’t such an obligation just a hundred years ago. The next step should be providing a secure working environment not only because businesses are legally required to do so but because caring for every human being is our main goal as a community which has realized the importance of every member for the betterment of the whole.
The latter, in fact, has already begun since many large companies have implemented in their overall development policy and brand identity the idea of inclusiveness, support and care for their employees – those same messages aimed at consumers you have been used to hearing in commercials.
Until we reach the time when every company will have come to the conclusion that it is not only cost-effective and foresightful, but humane as well, to provide safe, encouraging and inclusive working conditions, it is within the powers of a country’s legislative bodies and international organization to enforce actions that guarantee at least such conditions that aren’t a direct threat to people’s physical and mental health.
Every company has to take into account the risks its activities might pose on the employees and is required to apply the country’s regulations on occupational health and safety.
The UN – A Mediator Securing Occupational Health and Safety
The world we have created for ourselves can be seen as much safer than the one our grandparents had. International human rights agreements and organizations like the UN and its specialized agency – the International Labour Organization have done their part on monitoring if countries and businesses worldwide follow these agreements.
Of course, there are still violations and the pursuit of short-term profit prevails but there is no denying that a certain culture of non-tolerance towards harmful and unjust treatment is being cultivated and people are learning to report such practices and not turn a blind eye.
ILO’s fundamental goal is bringing all concerned parties together in a meaningful dialogue on issues of mutual concern and it serves as a guarantee that health and safety policies are implemented. The work of this independent body has shown its importance after the pandemic which revealed to us how vulnerable and dependent on each other we can be.
Global World Equals Global Partnerships
The world today presents us with much more interactions – be it social, technical or physical – which on its part leads to many variables that need to be considered when assessing the dangers a certain job contains.
Risk assessment and management, which is a must when businesses build their occupational and health safety, combines knowledge and practices from many different areas – mathematics and statistics, economics, physics, chemistry, geography, law, medicine, sociology, psychology.
The whole process of evaluating a company’s activities, detecting the potential hazards and building a risk-free workplace should be performed by experts in the field of occupational health and safety. Therefore, you should choose carefully the specialists you are going to entrust with this extremely important task.
Today’s global world is causing ongoing and sometimes hard-to-predict changes to society, politics, technology and economy worldwide. At the same time, however, the fact that the world is so well-connected means sharing knowledge, observing in detail both beneficial and negative practices, and providing goods and services on a global level.
Companies in need of an expert risk assessment, continual support and further training in order to ensure an adequate and safe workplace are not limited to choose only among local service providers. There are a great deal of global health and safety consultants which have accumulated valuable information and practices by working with various businesses all over the world.
The World is In The Hands Of Those Who Listen and Cooperate
Undoubtedly, the path the world will take is hard to predict, especially if we consider the role of the budding AI sector. And if you focus mainly on the advent of AI and take the pessimistic approach, then why bother guaranteeing any workplace health and safety.
There is no denying that we have reached our current level of development through wars, hunger and struggle. However, we wouldn’t have reached 8 billion if we hadn’t turned to another very important aspect of society, that is cooperation.
Therefore, our endeavors as social beings who want also to thrive individually cannot be successful if we do not learn to cooperate effectively and simply listen to each other – two very important skills part of every school’s curriculum nowadays.
