Health and Safety Practices

Health and safety practices1
HEALTH AND SAFETY PRACTICES
Name:
School:
Department:
Date:

Health and safety practices 2
Introduction
A safety culture comprises of practices and beliefs of people in an organisation towards potential
hazards (Antonsen 2017, pp. 12). Creating a safety culture at work is a different process for
safety management (Kim Park & Park 2016, pp.90). It is a combined effort of the top, middle
level, and junior management in ensuring proficiency in the health and safety practice in the
whole organisation. Safety culture in management ensures the well-being of employees in the
day to day activities. Collective responsibility of values and what others believe regarding safety
at work should be collaborated to ensure employee safety is prioritised.
The health and safety legislation ensures that the wellbeing of workers in an organisation is
critical and not taken for granted (Lèfstedt 2011, pp.23). Individuals are advised to wear
protective clothing. A safety culture promotion reduces the stress related to the workplace. It is
because of the breaks in between working hours that help relieve work pressures, conflicts
among employees and time for relaxation. It also assists employees to be more aware of their
surroundings. The knowledge is vital in that, should a hazard occur, the individuals around the
place can know how to deal with it and take available precautionary measures (Hughes & Ferrett
2011, pp. 34). Also, fostering safety culture helps employees to learn the necessary precautions
while handling tools, machinery, and equipment. Using the appropriate tools while following the
instructions manual help in the prevention of potential injury while at work.
Furthermore, safety culture helps individuals to stay alert while maintaining emergency exits
accessible in case of occurrence of hazards. Safety culture improves behaviors of workers since
workers learn to use mechanical assistance such as conveyor belts and forklifts when lifting

Health and safety practices 3
heavy equipment. These tools are very appropriate and minimise the chances of an individual
harming themselves in the line of duty.
It crucial for the Evans Small goods to adopts the safety culture. Training and developing
employees before allocating them to their work stations; when individuals are trained on how to
handle machines and equipment, injuries and accidents are kept at bay. For example, workers at
Evanson will know well not to reach into mincers while still in operation. It is also during
training that workers are made aware of instruction manuals that come with machines and how
important it is to acknowledge them during a workflow. Evanson needs to encourage workers to
wear protective clothing and equipment while handling tools. Protective clothing such as gloves,
helmets, capes gumboots and aprons will protect individuals from harm should accident occur.
Protective gear, on the other hand, is also useful when reaching out to fix a problem in the
machines than handling it on bare hands. It prevents potential cuts, bruises, lacerations, and
fractures. The company can also encourage employees to have safe drawers for storing sharp
objects such as knives after use. The practice will ensure the safety of workers as it will prevent
stumbling and falling over sharp objects that pose an extreme danger to workers. Equipment if
not put away correctly, could be used as potentials weapons against each other in case of
conflicts and misunderstanding at work. Reinstating supervisors at different work locations will
ensure workers are held responsible and accountable for their actions. Supervisors will make sure
that no worker neglects the safety practices put in place by management. The supervisors will
ensure health and safety are prioritised rather than completion of a task. In this way, workers will
cease from removing safety barriers installed in the equipment to speed up production. The
supervisors also will motivate employers to improve their performance while maintaining safety
and hence productivity in the whole organisation.