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Safety And Health Practices Are Good

Business Decisions
Discussion Paper

The present discussion paper is intended to provide evidence that supports the argument of
Safety and health practices are good business decisions. The paper contains health and safety
issues, literature, and followed a set of case studies in order to prove the statement.

Occupational Health and Safety

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.

Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 3

2.

Definition of Health and Safety .................................................................................................. 3

3.

History and legal framework ....................................................................................................... 4

4.

Health and Safety Issues and its Effects .................................................................................... 4

Workplace Accidents ................................................................................................................... 5
Dangerous Occurrences ............................................................................................................... 5
Occupational Diseases ................................................................................................................. 5

5.

Causes of health and safety issues .............................................................................................. 6

6.

Importance of health and safety practices .................................................................................. 7

6.1 Successful Case Study of North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust............................. 7
6.3 Successful Case study of British Sugar ........................................................................................... 9
6.4 Successful Case study of Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service ......................................... 9

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Occupational Health and Safety

1.

Introduction

Over the past two decades, occupational health and safety related issues are widely recognized,
and many businesses have undergone significant changes to meet challenges created by the
uncertain environment. These changes are necessary not for the sake of employees or legal duty,
but they understand that good health and safety practices leads to lower costs, improve employee
relation, improve reliability and productivity, improve protection from business interruption,
increase public trust and image, increase organizational capability. (Howcroft) As a matter of
fact, the present discussion paper is intended to provide evidence that supports the argument of
Safety and health practices are good business decisions. The paper contains health and safety
issues, literature, and followed a set of case studies in order to prove the statement.

2.

Definition of Health and Safety

In industrial perspective the term health and safety commonly used together and closely related,
however its not considered as same. According to Oxford Dictionaries the term health is
defined as a persons mental or physical condition. Whereas, safety as the condition of being
protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury. (Oxford)
However, the relationships between health and safety have been reflected in the definition
adopted by the joint committee of International Labour Organization (ILO) and World Health
Organization (WHO). It stated that;
Occupational health should aim at the promotion and
highest

degree

occupations;
caused by their

the

of

the

of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in

all

prevention

working

maintenance

amongst workers of departures from health

conditions;

the

protection

of workers in their

employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; the placing
and maintenance of the worker in an occupational environment adapted to
his

physiological

and psychological capabilities and, to summarize: the

adaptation of work to man and of each man to his job. (Coppe)

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Occupational Health and Safety

The definition provides us thoughtful relation between occupation health and safety. Such
relation can be identify in mining industry in the United States , extreme amount of
people were killed in mine accidents and departed from employment due to lung diseases.
(Goetsch, 2014) However, many commentators believe there is no clear relation between
these two concepts. Their argument is stress is a hazard and can cause both. However, the
concepts are accurate in portraying safety and health issues. (Goetsch, 2014)

3.

History of Health and Safety

The health and safety movement were traced its roots from United Kingdom, as labour
movements arose in response to work related hazards in the wake of the industrial revolution. In
response to labour movements, government required to regulating the working environment by
implementing laws.
In 1833, HM Factory Inspectorate was formed in the United Kingdom with a remit to inspect
factories and ensure the prevention of injury to child textile workers. In 1840 a Royal
Commission published its findings on the state of conditions for the workers of the mining
industry that documented the appallingly dangerous environment that they had to work in and the
high frequency of accidents. The commission sparked public outrage which resulted in the Mines
Act of 1842. The act set up an inspectorate for mines and collieries which resulted in many
prosecutions and safety improvements, and by 1850, inspectors were able to enter and inspect
premises at their discretion. (Occupational Safety And Health)
Following that many independent body was formed, some are intentionally recognized in order
to promote and regulate working environment. Such as International Labour Organization (ILO),
which formulate international policies, standards and programmes to promote basic human
rights, improve working and living conditions, and enhance employment opportunities. (ILO)

4.

Health and Safety Issues and its Effects

In the early 1900s, health and safety issues were common problem in many industries. The
government of Singapore classified work related incidents into three broad category i.e.

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workplace accidents, dangerous occurrences and occupational diseases. (MOM, 2013) The three
broad categories are explained as follow;

Workplace Accidents
A workplace accident referred as an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly
and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury. (Oxford) The types of
workplace accidents includes; mechanical, fall-related, lifting-related, pressure, sound,
noise and vibration, heat, cold and temperature, fire, explosion, electrical, chemical,
biological, toxic and harmful substances, radiation, and ergonomics.
According to International Labour Organization every day, 6300 people die as a result of
occupational accidents and more than 2.3 million deaths per year. (ILO) In United States,
accidents are the fourth cause of death which includes motor vehicle accidents, drowning,
fires, falls, and natural disasters. (Goetsch, 2014)

Dangerous Occurrences
A dangerous occurrence is a serious workplace incident in which no one is killed or
injured. (MOM, 2013)

Occupational Diseases
The government of Singapore outlined thirty five diseases that need to be reported.
Which are; aniline poisoning, anthrax, arsenical poisoning, asbestosis, barotraumas,
beryllium poisoning, byssinosis, cadmium poisoning, carbarmate poisoning, compressed
air illness to its sequelae, cyanide poisoning, diseases caused by excessive heat, diseases
caused by ionizing radiation, hydrogen sulphide poisoning, lead poisoning, leptospirosis,
liver angiosarcoma,

manganese poisoning, mercurial poisoning,

mesothelioma,

musculoskeletal disorders, noise-induced deafness, occupational asthma, occupational

skin cancers, occupational skin diseases, organophosphate poisoning, poisoning by
benzene, poisoning by carbon disulphide, poisoning by carbon monoxide gas, poisoning
by oxides of nitrogen, poisoning from halogen derivates of hydrocarbon compounds,
silicosis, toxic anemia, and toxic hepatitis.

(MOM, 2013) Many of these diseases

resulted in extended absences from work and about 4% of the GDP is lost due to diseases
and injuries. (ILO)

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Occupational Health and Safety

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics shows that each year millions of working days
are lost due to work related illness and injuries, thousands of the people die from occupational
diseases, around a million workers self reported suffering from a work related illness and every
working day employees get injured. (HSE)

5.

Causes of health and safety issues

To prevent health and safety issues in business environment, organization need to know the main
causes. Many theorists and organization development practitioners used models and theories in
order to describe the causes of health and safety problem and acknowledged the preventive
measures that need to adopt to minimize the problem. Such theories includes; domino theory,
human factor theory, accident/incident theory, epidemiological theory, systems theory, and
combination theory. These theories highlighted the following points;

The domino theory of accident causation was one of the earliest developed. The theory
hypothesized that injuries result from a series of factors, one of which is an accident. The
theory is operationalized in ten statements called the Axioms of Industrial Safety.
According to this theory, there are five factors in the sequence of events leading to an
accident: ancestry/social environment, fault of person, unsafe act/mechanical or physical
hazard, accident, and injury. The theory suggested that 88% of all accidents are caused by
unsafe acts of people, 10% by unsafe actions and 2% by acts of God.

The human factors theory of accident causation attributes accidents to a chain of events
ultimately caused by human error. It consists of three broad factors that lead to human
error: overload, inappropriate response, and inappropriate activities. Overload factors are
causing due to lack of responsibilities from employers side. Such as lack of providing
training, bad working condition and terrible interpersonal relation with employees and
unclear regulations. Whereas, employees response and activates are the main reason for
accidents.

The accident/incident theory of accident causation is an extension of the human factors

theory. It introduces such new elements as ergonomic traps, the decision to err, and
systems failures.

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The epidemiological theory of accident causation holds that the models used for studying
and determining the relationships between environmental factors and disease can be used
to study causal relationships between environmental factors and accidents.

The systems theory of accident causation views any situation in which an accident might
occur as a system with three components: person (host), machine (agency), and
environment.

The combination theory of accident causation posits that no one model/theory can explain
all accidents. Factors from two or more models might be part of the cause.

There are seven principles of behavior-based safety: intervention; identification;

identification of internal factors; motivation to behave in the desired manner; focus on the
positive consequences of appropriate behavior; application of the scientific method,
integration of information; and planned interventions.

While considering the factors determined by the theorists, its clear that occupational health and
safety issues are mainly causes by the failure of management or lack of awareness. If the
management is aware of the consequences of health and safety issues, and know its importance
in a competitive environment, then organization never ignore the opportunity that gain from
health and safety practices. (l.Goetsch, 2010)

6.

Importance of health and safety practices

Over the past five years, many studies have shown that there is a positive relation between
health, safety and productivity. These includes good health and safety practices leads few
injuries, increased innovation, improved quality, enhanced corporate reputation, lower costs to
compensate workers, and improved staff recruitment and retention. (Massey, 2007)
6.1 SUCCESSFUL CASE STUDY OF NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE COMBINED
HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST

The board found itself facing service improvement targets. Using new corporate and
clinical guidance, it set about taking a 'whole systems' approach to managing corporate

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risk, giving one of its directors responsibility for the leadership of health and safety for
the first time. Health and safety was also made a key item on the board agenda.
This has resulted in a much better integrated health and safety management system that
increases the opportunity to identify and manage all corporate risks, and a much more
open culture, improving reporting and monitoring. The board actively promotes a culture
that gives staff the confidence to report incidents. This has resulted in incidence rates
reduced by 16% over two years and Insurance premiums reduced by 10%. (HSE)
6.2 SUCCESSFUL CASE STUDY OF SAINSBURYS

An external health and safety audit identified a need to develop a unified approach, and
also recommended more direction from the board, to develop an effective strategy. The
result was a radical revision of the company's approach, including: the group human
resources director creating a health and safety vision, supported by a plan with targets
over three years; training on health and safety responsibilities was introduced for all
board directors. This has resulted in the board providing a role model for health and
safety behavior; 17% reduction in sickness absence; 28% reduction in reportable
incidents; improved morale and pride in working for the company; raising the profile of
health and safety so it is becoming embedded in the culture of the organization. (HSE)
In addition, researchers believes there is a common success factors through health and safety
practices in business, which includes; a high quality working environment, good levels of
cooperation between management and employees, work organization that gives employees
challenges, responsibilities and job Autonomy, the development of new working methods and
equipment to improve working ,postures and decrease the strain of physical work allowing
creative solutions for specific safety and health problems, a thorough analysis of the different
production costs that can be directly or indirectly related to health and safety hazards (costs of
incidents, loss of productivity and quality, and other production costs due, for example, to the
use of inadequate materials). (Massey, 2007)

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6.3 SUCCESSFUL CASE STUDY OF BRITISH SUGAR

British Sugar had an excellent safety record and was devastated in 2003 when it suffered
three fatalities. Although health and safety had always been a business priority, the
company recognized that a change in focus was needed to achieve behavioral change.
This included; the CEO assigning health and safety responsibilities to all directors, and
monthly reports go to the board, creating effective working partnerships with employees,
trade unions and others, overseeing a behavioral change programme and audits,
Publishing annual health and safety targets, and devising initiatives to meet them. This
resulted; a two thirds reduction in both lost time and minor injury frequency rates over a
ten years period. (HSE)
6.4 SUCCESSFUL CASE STUDY OF MID AND WEST WALES FIRE AND RESCUE
SERVICE

To give health and safety a high priority, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service
recognized that it was critical for its leadership to demonstrate to its staff that
accountability for health and safety was a fundamental element in the success of its
overall service delivery. The director of service policy and planning was nominated as
the health and safety director for the service in order to clearly define the importance this
subject held within the organization. The director implemented a revised health and
safety framework, which included a programme of fire station visits to engage the
workforce, and placed a renewed emphasis on improving incident reporting,
investigation and monitoring procedures. The service has reported; 100,000 reduction
in insurance liability premiums in one year through improved corporate strategic risk
management, 50% reduction in sickness absence through work related injury over a two
year period, 50% reduction in injury incidence rate over a three year period. (HSE)
Thus, literatures indicated that there are two types of cost that organization bears due to lack of
health and safety practices i.e. direct and indirect costs. Direct costs are paid through insurance
system, whereas indirect costs incurred as the result of low production. These two different types
of costs are affected by individuals, families, workmates, the business and society at large. In
economic literatures these costs are categorizes in to three ways;
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Occupational Health and Safety

1. Costs in anticipation
These deal with managing risk and are the costs associated with developing,
implementing and maintaining occupational health and safety systems to prevent or
mitigate injuries and illnesses.
2. Costs as a consequence:
These arise when someone is injured or becomes ill in their workplace, and affect the
employee, the employer and the public. An example is opportunity costs, such as the
loss of production because of employee downtime. Consequential costs also include
fines for negligence. Hidden costs often make up the biggest slice of consequential costs.
These can include personal losses suffered by those injured or ill, extra overtime to cover
the gap, training for new staff, damage to plant, product and equipment, and higher
insurance/compensation premiums.
3. Costs in response
These costs are incurred by the organisation and the regulatory and compensatory
agencies as a result of investigating the injury or illness. Examples are diversion of
scarce recourses and the time required to report the incident.
The studies attempts to estimate the hidden costs of workplace injury and illness vary anywhere
between 0.5 and 20 times the wage and/or salary costs. (Massey, 2007)
Meanwhile, legal problem that rises in working environment can be minimized through health
and safety practices. Occupational Health and Safety Acts provides workers with the right to a
safe work environment. In protecting workers, employers must exercise due diligence, i.e., take
reasonable precaution appropriate for the circumstances. The legal penalties that are possible for
violations of health and safety legislation are significant and can include civil lawsuits and
criminal prosecutions.
6.4 CASE STUDY OF NEGLIGENCE BY EMPLOYER

The fatal injury of an employee maintaining machinery at a recycling firm employing

approximately 30 people, a company director received a 12-month custodial sentence for
manslaughter. The machinery was not properly isolated and started up unexpectedly.

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An HSE and police investigation revealed there was no safe system of work for
maintenance; instruction, training and supervision were inadequate. HSEs investigating
principal inspector said: 'Evidence showed that the director chose not to follow the
advice of his health and safety adviser and instead adopted a complacent attitude,
allowing the standards in his business to fall.
The managing director of a manufacturing company with around 100 workers was
sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for manslaughter following the death of an
employee who became caught in unguarded machinery. The investigation revealed that,
had the company adequately maintained guarding around a conveyor, the death would
have been avoided.
The judge made clear that whether the managing director was aware of the situation was
not the issue: he should have known as this was a long-standing problem. An area
manager also received a custodial sentence. The company received a substantial fine and
had to pay the prosecution's costs.
A company and its officers were fined a total of 245,000 and ordered to pay costs of
75,500 at Crown Court in relation to the removal of asbestos. The company employed
ten, mostly young, temporary workers; they were not trained or equipped to safely
remove the asbestos, nor warned of its risk. The directors were also disqualified from
holding any company directorship for two years and one year respectively. (HSE)
Yet, researchers indicated that the success of the organization depends on the effectiveness of
health and safety programmes. The business should take a whole of business approach to health
and safety, including employee attitudes and workplace culture, combine formal business targets
with indicators on the welfare and development of employees, wide range of health and safety
improvement programmes, rather than narrow prevention measures, including technical incident
innovations and organizational improvements as part of their health and safety programme, and
measure, design and evaluative to demonstrate a returns on investment. (Massey, 2007)

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7.

Conclusion

In conclusion, health and safety issues are emerging threat for the business to sustain in a
competitive market. Working conditions has improved significantly, chances of a worker being
killed is less than half of what it was sixty years ago. The current death rate from work related
injuries is about four per 100,000 or less than a third of the rate 50 years ago.
Many studies have shown a number of potential benefits from health and safety programmes i.e.
fewer injuries mean that more people keep working designing safety into business are a source of
increased innovation, improved quality and improved efficiencies safe workplaces enhance
corporate reputations and improve staff recruitment and retention. (Goetsch, 2014)
So, health and safety practices good business decision in order to improve productivity and gain
a competitive advantage.

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Occupational Health and Safety

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Coppe, G. H. (n.d.). OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES AND PRACTICE. Retrieved 06 18, 2014, from
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Labour Organization: http://www.ilo.org/
Goetsch. (2014). Occupational Safety and Health For Technologists, Engineers, and Management.
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Howcroft, I. Business Results Through Health & Safety. Canada: Workplace Safety and Insurance
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for Technologists, Engineers, and Managers . Pearson .
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MOM. (2013, Aug 29). Types of workplace incidents. Retrieved 06 18, 2014, from Ministry of
Manpower : http://www.mom.gov.sg
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