Occupational Health and Safety in the Workplace

This report discusses the importance of workplace health and safety, the effects of workplace stress, and strategies for intervention and prevention. It includes a case study of an employee suffering from depression due to workplace stress and offers recommendations such as introducing flexible work arrangements, providing mental wellness training, encouraging open communication, and adopting a more friendly leadership style.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Name
Institution Affiliation

Introduction
Workplace health and safety is one of the areas that modern healthcare facilities give
priority to. Because, it is a legal requirement that employees are provided with work conditions
that are not likely to harm their wellbeing, health facilities are encouraged to become
accountable for their employee’s wellbeing. Occupational illnesses and accidents may arise as a
result of employee’s negligence or failure by the employer to put in place certain control
measures such as the provision of protective wear or labeling of dangerous spots at the
workplace(Alli, 2008). This report documents a workplace incident that I experienced and offers
recommendations on the strategies of intervention and prevention.
Description of the incident
John had been working at Affordable Care limited for over five years. He was one of the
longest-serving employees of the healthcare organization. Based on my numerous interactions
with him I could tell that he was quite passionate about what he was tasked to do at the
organization. John had suddenly become a troubled man. The fact that he spent most of his time
dealing with patients seemed to worry him extensively. First, there was the issue with his family.
He hardly had time for them due to work commitments. Secondly, he had to deal with various
issues touching his patients. Gradually his stress levels grew from mild to chronic levels. His
decreased energy levels were noticeable to anybody who had known him for the time he had
worked at the organization. As his, condition deteriorated it was found that John was suffering
from depression
Source and type of the hazard

Workplace hazards come in various forms. The most common classification of hazards is
Psychological, physical, chemical, ergonomic, biological and radiation. The hazard discussed in
this case was a psychological hazard. A psychological hazard is used to refer to any hazard that
has an impact on an individual's mental health or affects their mental well-being. Stress is a
common workplace hazard that has the potential of affecting the ability of an employee to carry
out their responsibilities(Burke,Clarke & Cooper, 2011). It has the potential of creating
psychological or physical health issues. Workplace stress is caused by multiple factors including
long working hours, lack of work-life balance, job insecurity, changes in duties and
responsibilities, organizational change, heavy workload, and boring work
Effect of the workplace and employees
Workplace stress can affect both employees and their organizations in various ways.
Acute stress can affect health and productivity. As employee's levels of stress grow, their health
deteriorates leading to a decline in their productivity. Stress also increases the number of sick
leaves sought by employees. Stress also leads to increased absenteeism and reduced productivity.
A decline in an individual's productivity and increased absenteeism can also affect the
productivity of an organization. Stress can also lead to increased employee turnover depriving
organizations some of their productive employees(Moustaka & Constantinidis, 2010).
Levels of control
Individual and organizational levels are used in managing stress. Individual employees
can manage workplace stress by sharing their concerns with friends, managing their time
engaging in physical activities among other stress management techniques. Employers also have
a role in managing their employee's stress. At the organizational level, employers can deal with

organizational stress by enabling their employees to balance between work and personal life
through flexible work arrangements(Quinlan, Bohle &Lamm, 2010). Theycan also do so by
offering fair remuneration for their employeesand setting clear goals for their employees.
Employee rights Violated
Employee rights are the entitlement of employees from their employers. Employers are
required to provide rights such as fair working condition, annual leave, and freedom from
discrimination and privacy in this case, however, no employee rights were violated.
Strategies for intervention and Prevention
Introducing flexible work arrangements
As identified in the case study, part of the stress was caused by the inability of the
employee to balance between work and family commitments. The first recommendation for the
organization would, therefore, be the introduction of flexible work arrangements for their
employees. Introduction of flexible work arrangements will enable employees such as John to
attend to family and work commitments hence they will be able to manage their stress(VonDras,
Flittner, Malcore & Pouliot, 2009).
Provision of mental wellness training
The organization should also introduce mental wellness training for its employees to
increase their understanding of issues touching on mental health. This training should include
aspects such as spotting symptoms of stress, equipping employees to differentiate between
unhealthy and healthy stress levels(Zeller & Levin, 2013). They should also be made aware of
where they can seek help when need be.

Encouraging open communications.
Open communication cans also are used as a strategy of alleviating workplace stress. The
management can achieve this by creating a culture that encourages employees to talk to each
other about their stresses and seek help where necessary (Littlejohn, 2012).
Adoption of a more friendly leadership style
Employee stress may also arise from an ineffective leadership style from leaders. People in
leadership positions should, therefore, reflect on how they lead to ensure that they are not too
harsh on employees as such can lead to stress. Leadership should also focus on assigning specific
roles to the right people per individual capabilities(Lewis et al., 2010).
Gaps contributing to this Incident
Some of the gaps that could have contributed to this incident include lack of flexible work
arrangements at the organization, ineffective leadership and insufficient training for employees
to deal with workplace success. It could also have been caused by a culture that does not allow
subordinates to communicate with each other freely on issues stressing them(Quinlan, Bohle
&Lamm, 2010).
Ways of measuring the effects of this intervention
The effects of this intervention will be measured through the comparison of stress cases
at the organization before its implementation and after its implementation. Cases of absenteeism
at the organization as well as the performance of individuals and the organization at large will
also be used.

References
Alli, B. O. (2008). Fundamental principles of occupational health and safety Second
edition. Geneva, International Labour Organization, 15.
Burke, R. J., Clarke, S., & Cooper, C. L. (Eds.). (2011). Occupational health and safety. Gower
Publishing, Ltd.
Lewis, R., Yarker, J., Donaldson-Feilder, E., Flaxman, P., & Munir, F. (2010). Using a
competency-based approach to identify the management behaviors required to manage

workplace stress in nursing: a critical incident study. International Journal of Nursing
Studies, 47(3), 307-313.
Littlejohn, P. (2012). The missing link: using emotional intelligence to reduce workplace stress
and workplace violence in our nursing and other healthcare professions. Journal of
Professional Nursing, 28(6), 360-368.
Moustaka, E., & Constantinidis, T. C. (2010). Sources and effects of work-related stress in
nursing. Health science journal, 4(4), 210.
Quinlan, M., Bohle, P., & Lamm, F. (2010). Managing occupational health and safety. Palgrave
Macmillan.
VonDras, D. D., Flittner, D., Malcore, S. A., & Pouliot, G. (2009). Workplace stress and ethical
challenges experienced by nursing staff in a nursing home. Educational
Gerontology, 35(4), 323-341.
Zeller, J. M., & Levin, P. F. (2013). Mindfulness interventions to reduce stress among nursing
personnel: an occupational health perspective. Workplace health & safety, 61(2), 85-89.