Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Consistent There arent too many things that will destroy the
efforts to create a quality culture than to appear to have double
standards. This only underscores the absolute necessity to build of
the culture on the organizational values. They serve as an anchor and
reference point for those difficult circumstances. People wont always
like it, but they will appreciate knowing where things stand and that
it isnt some ambiguous idea built in the moment.
Useful Its amazing how many organizations create cultural
boundaries and definitions as a means to control and manipulate
people. Of the culture must be of use relative to of the mission and
vision. If not, it will be received for what it ismanipulation and
micro-management under the innocuous banner of culture. People
know thats a farce and you will develop a minimalist attitude towards
productivity. The moment you begin to micro-manage people, they
will force you to continue to do so in order to accomplish anything.
Learning People want to know you care. One of the best ways to
show you care is to develop them professionally. Make sure you
culture not only supports, but champions learning and development.
A learning environment leaves room for mistakes and errors without
the fear of being chastised unnecessarily. Honest mistakes happen
and a learning environment reduces the stress of making them. Less
stress means more productivity and less health issueswhich usually
translates into less absenteeism.
Truthful No matter what youve experienced in the past, people
want and can handle the truth. Its so offensive and insulting to be
treated with kiddie gloves under the assumption youre just not
educated enough, mature enough, whatever enough to navigate
hearing the truth. You may be surprised how many innovative
solutions can be developed when the truth is consistently shared
throughout the organization.
Utilitarian No matter what is in place, there will always be those
who choose to operate on the fringes. Dont worry about it. Make sure
that the overall focus of of the values and culture support the largest
majority. There may be the occasional opportunity for you to make
special concessions, so dont rule it out entirely. Just dont let the
habitual naysayers contort and bastardize how of the culture is
developed. Culture acts as a governance of a community based on
commonly accepted behaviors. There will always be those who feel
they should be able to operate outside these boundaries. Deal with it
accordingly.
Respectful Conflict WILL occur. There is no way to avoid
differences, nor should you try. Everything can be dealt with via the
lens of respect. Respect doesnt automatically mean compromise or
common ground has to rule the day. A respectful dialog can take place
for the sake of understanding the position of another. It is in the
understanding of another view that allows us to respect anothers
position without abandoning our own. It allows for a discussion on
how to align things with the values instead of a biased position of a
particular person or group.
Empowerment Let people explore their creativity. Give them the
freedom to be as autonomous as possible. Sure there are certain
industries that are more heavily regulated than others, but as long as
they stay within the necessary guidelines in order to comply legally let
them have at it. Empowered people make positive changes. Sure you
will have a few duds, but thats the price of progress. Dont let the
duds diminish the opportunity to experience the successes!
Who is responsible?
When must this be done?
What is to be accomplished?
Which requirements/constraints are involved?
Where is this to be completed?
Why is this important or beneficial?
MEASURABLE. When setting goals, you must also set specific
criteria for measuring progress against those goals. This gives of the
employees a way to stay on track, aim for target dates, and reach
milestones that will serve as ongoing motivation.
ATTAINABLE. Setting overly lofty goals that are truly unattainable
serve to demotivate-rather than motivate-of the employees. By
setting ambitious, yet realistic, goals, you will inspire of the
employees to fully leverage their talents and all available
opportunities in order to achieve them.
RELEVANT. Employees must be able to see how a specific goal is
relevant to them and the work they perform every day. Plus by
keeping goals relevant, you will help employees better understand
their connection to of the company's objectives and the strategic
importance of their individual goals.
TIMELY. To be most effective, goals must be structured around a
specific timeframe to provide a sense of urgency. This serves to
motivate individuals to begin working on their goals as soon as
possible.
Hazard Example
Chemical Effects on central nervous system, lungs, digestive system, circulatory system, skin,
hazards reproductive system. Short term (acute) effects such as burns, rashes, irritation,
feeling unwell, coma and death.
Long term (chronic) effects such as mutagenic (affects cell structure), carcinogenic
(cancer), teratogenic (reproductive effect), dermatitis of the skin, and occupational
Workplace
Effect on human health
Hazard
Noise High levels of industrial noise will cause irritation in the short term, and industrial
deafness in the long term.
Temperature Personal comfort is best between temperatures of 16C and 30C, better between 21C
and 26C.
Working outside these temperature ranges: may lead to becoming chilled, even
hypothermia (deep body cooling) in the colder temperatures, and may lead to
dehydration, cramps, heat exhaustion, and hyperthermia (heat stroke) in the warmer
temperatures.
Being struck by This hazard could be a projectile, moving object or material. The health effect could
be lacerations, bruising, breaks, eye injuries, and possibly death.
Crushed by A typical example of this hazard is tractor rollover. Death is usually the result
High energy Explosions, high pressure gases, liquids and dusts, fires, electricity and sources such
sources as lasers can all have serious effects on the body, even death.
Vibration Vibration can affect the human body in the hand arm with `white-finger' or
Raynaud's Syndrome, and the whole body with motion sickness, giddiness, damage
to bones and audits, blood pressure and nervous system problems.
Slips, trips and A very common workplace hazard from tripping on floors, falling off structures or
falls down stairs, and slipping on spills.
Radiation Radiation can have serious health effects. Skin cancer, other cancers, sterility, birth
deformities, blood changes, skin burns and eye damage are examples.
Physical Excessive effort, poor posture and repetition can all lead to muscular pain, tendon
damage and deterioration to bones and related structures
Psychological Stress, anxiety, tiredness, poor concentration, headaches, back pain and heart disease
can be the health effects
Biological More common in the health, food and agricultural industries. Effects such as
infectious disease, rashes and allergic response.
5. Task 4.2:
A safety and health management system means the part of the
Organisation's management system which covers:
The health and safety work organisation and policy in a
company
The planning process for accident and ill health prevention
The line management responsibilities and
The practices, procedures and resources for developing and
implementing, reviewing and maintaining the occupational
safety and health policy.
The system should cover the entire gambit of an employer's
occupational health and safety organisation. The key elements of a
successful safety and health management system are:
Policy and commitment
The workplace should prepare an occupational safety and health
policy programme as part of the preparation of the Safety Statement
required by Section 20 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act
2005. Effective safety and health policies should set a clear direction
for the organisation to follow. They will contribute to all aspects of
business performance as part of a demonstrable commitment to
continuous improvement. Responsibilities to people and the working
environment will be met in a way that fulfils the spirit and letter of
the law. Cost-effective approaches to preserving and developing
human and physical resources will reduce financial losses and
liabilities. In a wider context, stakeholders' expectations, whether
they are shareholders, employees or their representatives, customers
or society at large, can be met.
Planning
The workplace should formulate a plan to fulfil its safety and health
policy as set out in the Safety Statement. An effective management
structure and arrangements should be put in place for delivering the
policy. Safety and health objectives and targets should be set for all
managers and employees.
Implementation and operation
For effective implementation, organisations should develop the
capabilities and support mechanisms necessary to achieve the safety
and health policy, objectives and targets. All staff should be
motivated and empowered to work safely and to protect their long-
term health, not simply to avoid accidents. These arrangements
should be:
Underpinned by effective staff involvement and participation
through appropriate consultation, the use of the safety
committee where it exists and the safety representation
system and,
Sustained by effective communication and the promotion of
competence, which allows all employees and their
representatives to make a responsible and informed
contribution to the safety and health effort.
There should be a planned and systematic approach to
implementing the safety and health policy through an effective safety
and health management system. The aim is to minimise risks. Risk
Assessment methods should be used to determine priorities and set
objectives for eliminating hazards and reducing risks. Wherever
possible, risks should be eliminated through the selection and design
of facilities, equipment and processes. If risks cannot be eliminated,
they should be minimised by the use of physical controls and safe
systems of work or, as a last resort, through the provision of PPE.
Performance standards should be established and used for measuring
achievement. Specific actions to promote a positive safety and health
culture should be identified. There should be a shared common
understanding of the organisations vision, values and beliefs on
health and safety. The visible and active leadership of senior
managers fosters a positive safety and health culture.
Measuring performance
The organisation should measure, monitor and evaluate safety and
health performance. Performance can be measured against agreed
standards to reveal when and where improvement is needed. Active
self-monitoring reveals how effectively the safety and health
management system is functioning. Self-monitoring looks at both
hardware (premises, plant and substances) and software (people,
procedures and systems, including individual behaviour and
performance). If controls fail, reactive monitoring should find out
why they failed, by investigating the accidents, ill health or incidents,
which could have caused harm or loss. The objectives of active and
reactive monitoring are:
To determine the immediate causes of substandard
performance
To identify any underlying causes and implications for the
design and operation of the safety and health management
system.
6. Task 4.3:
The Occupational Health and Safety Act, Act 85 of 1993, requires
the employer to provide and maintain as far as reasonable and
practical a work environment that is safe and without risk to the
health of employees.
Section 7 of the Act provides direction to employers concerning
the health and safety policy of the organisation.
According to this section the employer will be obligated to have a
health and safety policy once the chief inspector has directed him to
do so. It would therefore not be compulsory for all organisations to
formulate and implement a health and safety policybut the employer
is still duty-bound to inform employees of work related risks and
dangers. According to legal prescription the employer must inform
employees how work related risks and dangers could be prevented.
A health and safety policy could prove to be a valuable tool in this
regard, in fact the importance of work related policies and
procedures cannot be over emphasised. In a home there are usually
rules that the family abides by which brings order to the home. The
same applies to the workplace; rules and regulations bring order to
the workplace.
Employers need to comply with minumum standard legislation
but the employer also have the right to set a better standard for their
particular business. It is imperative to communicate these standards
to employees and other role players like contractors. This should
preferably be done in writing and these documents are called policies
and procedures.
Policy documents also provide direction to all company activities
and provide the criteria to measure and evaluate efficiency. In short,
policies and procedures could be described as a set of documents
that describe an organisation's policies for operation and the
procedures necessary to fulfil the policies. Without it, it would
basically be impossible to effectively control and manage employees
and other role players.
The primary objective of a health and safety policy should be to
prevent or reduce work-related accidents and occupational diseases.
An appropriate policy could help to avoid the expense,
inconvenience, and other consequences of workplace accidents by
making sure that employees and other role players know what is
expected of them.
An employer who lacks the necessary rules and regulations in
order to regulate the behaviour of employees and other role players
cannot expect any sympathy if these persons misbehave and take
advantage of the situation.
A health and safety policy is a written statement of principles and
goals embodying the company's commitment to workplace health
and safety. There are no hard and fast rules about what to include in
a policy. The employer should create a policy that is suitable and
sifficiant in order to address the health and safety need of the
company.
A good policy will indicate how the organisation protects those
who could be affected by its activities and be broad enough to cover
all aspects of the company's activities.
The policy should be of an appropriate length and relevance to the
activities and size of the organisation.
The health and safety policy statement can be brief, but it should
mention:
1) a description of the organisation
2) recognize the need to comply with minumum standard
legislation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act
3) recognize the priority of safety in relation to other
organizational goals and policies
4) acknowledge the right of every employee to work in a safe and
healthy environment
5)stipulates that management is accountable for occupational
health and safety programs and management's commitment to
providing a safe and healthy work environment by eliminating or
minimizing the hazards that can cause accidents and injuries
6) the organisation's basic health and safety philosophy (statement
of health and safety principles and goals)
7)the general responsibilities of all employees
8)that health and safety shall not be sacrificed for expediency
9)that unacceptable performance of health and safety duties will
not be tolerated
10) encourage co-operation with unions and workers to involve all
employees in implementing the health and safety policy into practice
11)the policy date
12)be signed by the chief executive officer
13)be visibly displayed for all workers to see
14)review date of the policy