Health and Safety at Work: Aston Martin Employee Productivity Report

This report, focused on inquiry-based learning, examines the importance of health and safety in the workplace, specifically within Aston Martin. It investigates how health and safety practices impact employee performance and productivity. The research includes a literature review, primary ...Read More

Inquiry Based
Learning
(Health and Safety at work)
1

Executive Summary
This project is based on the topic of health and safety at workplace for ascertaining its
importance in improving performance and productivity of employees within Aston Martin. In
order to achieve this purpose, different numbers of activities or tasks were completed. Literature
review was done by using secondary sources with purpose to overcoming research gap. Number
of methods used by researcher under research methodology section for collecting primary data.
Questionnaire is a main instrument of primary data collection that was gathered information
about the health and safety at work. In researching and findings frequency table was prepared for
analysing quantitative data and Graphs were developed with the use of MS-Excel. Conclusion
and recommendation is last tasks that helped researcher in summarising entire information about
the topic in small manner.
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Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Research Objectives.........................................................................................................................4
Research questions...........................................................................................................................4
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................5
How health and safety is important at workplace of an organisation?........................................5
What are the impacts of health and safety at work in improving employee’s performance and
productivity?................................................................................................................................5
What are the effective ways by which Aston Martin can develop safe and healthier working
environment for their employees?...............................................................................................6
Research Methodology....................................................................................................................7
Researching......................................................................................................................................8
Findings..........................................................................................................................................12
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
Appendix........................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction
Health and safety at work introduces to the right of every worker, regardless of industry or
organisation, to do daily work of worker within a safe environment. In this business employers
are liable for health and safety management in a workplace. This means ensuring that employees
and other staff members are protected from everything that may cause harm, controlling any type
of risks or hazard to injury or health that could happen at workplace (Bayram, Ünğan and Ardıç,
2017). For this project Aston Martin is a chosen independent manufacture of grand toures and
luxury sports cars that was founded by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin in 1913. At this place
health and safety is highly require that will be beneficial for company to follow health and safety
work act 1974 and protect their all workers from any kind of risk. This turns to helps in
improvement of employee’s productivity and performance that resulted in higher sales and better
reputation in marketplace.
Research Aim: To identify the importance of health and safety at workplace in improving
performance and productivity of employees. A study on Aston Martin.
Research Objectives
 To determine about the importance of health and safety at workplace of an organisation.
 To explore the impact of health and safe in improving employee’s performance and
productivity at workplace.
 To analysis the ways by which Aston Martin can develop safely and healthier working
environment for their employees.
Research questions
 How health and safety is important at workplace of an organisation?
 What are the impacts of health and safety at work in improving employee’s performance and
productivity?
 What are the effective ways by which Aston Martin can develop safely and healthier
working environment for their employees?
4

Literature Review
It introduces to the process which is important for researcher in gathering of secondary
data from variety of secondary sources such as articles, magazines, books etc. All these sources
are useful in overcoming of research gap. Within a study, main gap is the importance of health
and safety (Carr and et. al., 2016). In previous study there is data about the health and safety at
work but there is lack of information regarding its significance in improving of employee’s
performance and productivity. For research, research questions are important because these
facilitates in overcoming research gap and also attaining research aim and objectives easily.
These research questions have been described as below:
How health and safety is important at workplace of an organisation?
According to the Benstead (2019), health and safety is important at workplace because it
support an organisation to protect their employees, sub-contractors, customers and many other
members of the public from any kind of risks when they are involved with their business. There
are number of importance of health and safety at work such as increased productivity of
employees, improved service and product quality, strong corporate and public reputation, prevent
injury and illness, reduce safety and health hazards etc. All these are main importance that helps
in organisation in retention of employees for long time and increment of their sales and market
ratio easily.
What are the impacts of health and safety at work in improving employee’s performance and
productivity?
According to the Weakley (2020), health and safety at work has direct impact on
employees and their productivity and performance level. There are some impacts which have
been explained as below:
Reduces health safety hazards: Potential hazards are out of control in almost all
workplace environments. Chemicals, equipment, certain behaviours and activities can potentially
cause harm or injury to their employees. Health hazards can variety from contamination of food
by reason of unsafe handling otherwise preparation practices to a communicable disease
outbreak caused by inappropriate hygiene as well as personal care. Therefore, health and safety
is essential at workplace for reducing potential and health hazards effectively and safely
(Choudhry, 2017).
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Reduce workplace stress: Most of the workers are not fit as well as not healthy as a result
of their busy schedule that includes work-pressure, long working hours and conflicts with co-
workers. Therefore, health and safety is significant and for this business employers must provide
healthier working environment and working schedule according to the employees (Gopang and
et. al., 2017).
What are the effective ways by which Aston Martin can develop safe and healthier working
environment for their employees?
As per the view presented by Kidman (2016), there are different ways for developing safe
and healthier working environment within the workplace. These ways will be described as
below:
Have regular meeting on workplace safety: It is responsibility of business employer to
protect their workers and provide a safe working environment. This will helps in retention of
employees and also improvement of brand image in marketplace (İnan, Gül and Yılmaz, 2017):
Implementation of health and safety act 1974: This act support Aston Martin by protecting
their all workers from any type of health related risk and also support business in retention of
employees at workplace for longer time duration (Kaynak and et. al., 2016).
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Research Methodology
Research methodology refers to the process which is essential in collecting and analysing of
information regarding field of study. This section includes number of research methods that are
useful as per the current study or topic. These methods have been explained as below:
Types of study: This is a main section of research methodology that has two types which are
called qualitative and quantitative. By conducting current investigation on health and safety at
work, quantitative study will be followed because it facilitates in gathering of data in form of
numerical and also valid in limited time period as compare to qualitative study (Kunyk and et.
al., 2016).
Data collection and data analysis: Data collection as well s data analysis are refer to the
important process that will be essential within an inquiry based learning because it support in
collecting and analysing of reliable information about the health and safety at work. In case of
data collection, there are two methods called primary and secondary. For collecting primary type
of data, questionnaire will be used and for gathering secondary information books, journals,
articles etc. sources will be applied for literature review. On the other hand, for analysing
quantitative data MS-Excel has been used for making effective graphs for each question.
Research instruments: This is another section of research methodology that has a lot of
instruments of data collection such as interview, questionnaire, focus group etc. These are
effective but for collecting primary data about the topic of health and safety at work,
questionnaire will be applied because it not take more time and also provide valid results of the
study (von Thiele Schwarz, Hasson and Tafvelin, 2016).
Sampling: This is a process that will be useful in selecting of sample size from total
population. There are basically two techniques of sampling which named are probability and
non-probability. Within an inquiry based learning project probability sampling has been chosen
for selecting 40 mangers of Aston Martin o random basis. Main purpose for using this type of
sampling as it helps in selection of larger number of sample in minimum time duration as
compare to no-probability sampling.
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Researching
Main purpose of this study is to researching about the importance of health and safety at
workplace for improving performance and also productivity of employees. In this section,
researcher will require to make questionnaire that has been essential in collecting of primary data
and researching of respondent’s behaviour about the topic. Questionnaire according to the topic
or research aim and objectives will be prepared as below:
Q1) What are the effective role of health and safety at workplace of an
organisation?
Frequency
a). Reduce turnover and absenteeism 16
b). Increase productivity and quality 14
c). Protects employees from illness and injury 10
Q2) How health and safety at work helps Aston Martin in improving employee’s
performance and productivity?
Frequency
a). Reduce workplace stress 15
b). Reduce health and safety hazards 10
c). Prevent illness and injury 15
Q3) What are issue may be face by Aston Martin by negating health and safety
at workplace?
Frequency
a). High employee turnover 14
b). Reduce productivity 16
c). Reduce employee moral 10
Q4) What are the effective ways by which Aston Martin can develop safely and
healthier working environment for their employees?
Frequency
a). Implementation of health and safety work act 1974 18
b). Inspect workplace 10
c). Create a supporting environment and identify safety as a core value 12
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Q1) What are the effective role of health and safety at workplace of an
organisation?
Frequency
a). Reduce turnover and absenteeism 16
b). Increase productivity and quality 14
c). Protects employees from illness and injury 10
Q2) How health and safety at work helps Aston Martin in improving employee’s
performance and productivity?
Frequency
a). Reduce workplace stress 15
b). Reduce health and safety hazards 10
c). Prevent illness and injury 15
9

Q3) What are issue may be face by Aston Martin by negating health and safety
at workplace?
Frequency
a). High employee turnover 14
b). Reduce productivity 16
c). Reduce employee moral 10
Q4) What are the effective ways by which Aston Martin can develop safely and
healthier working environment for their employees?
Frequency
a). Implementation of health and safety work act 1974 18
b). Inspect workplace 10
10

c). Create a supporting environment and identify safety as a core value 12
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Findings
This section is based on the findings of primary data and its relation with the secondary
information that was collected for literature review from number of secondary sources which are
books, magazines, articles etc. Findings of the present study will be presented as below:
Theme 1: Effective role of health and safety at workplace
Interpretation: There are various roles of health and safety at workplace such as
reduction of absenteeism and turnover, increment of productivity and quality and protection for
employees from illness and injury. All these are main role but 16 out of 40 respondents that are
major have knowledge as health and safety helps in reduction of employees’ turnover at
workplace.
This information is correlated with the secondary data that was gathered by researcher by
using articles, books etc. for literature review. In this authors have opinion as health and safety is
important at working environment because it support in retaining of employees for longer time
period (Magnavita, 2017).
Theme 2: Impact of health and safety for employees
Interpretation: There are some impacts of health and safety for employees at workplace
of Aston Martin. 15 mangers have opinion as it reduce workplace stress, 10 have idea as it
decrease health and safety hazards and remaining 15 have knowledge as it prevent injury and
illness.
This information is also related gathered data from secondary sources for literature
review. In this authors also have knowledge about the same impact of health and safety at work
for employees (Mohammadfam and et. al., 2016).
Theme 3: Issues by negating health and safety at workplace
Interpretation: There are so many issues that may be face by company if they negate
health and safety at workplace. These are high employee turnover, reduce productivity and
reduce employee morale.
Theme 4: Effective ways for developing safe and healthier working environment
Interpretation: There are various ways for developing healthier and safe environment for
employees. These are inspect workplace, implementation of health and safety work act 1974 and
Creation of a supporting environment and identify safety as a core value.
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This information is also matched with the author’s point of view that is determined in
literature review. They also said as health and safety act 1974 and inspection of workplace are
essential in development of safe working environment (von Thiele Schwarz, Hasson and
Tafvelin, 2016).
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Recommendations
From the above mentioned findings it has been recommended different ways for promoting
health and safety at workplace of Aston Martin. These ways are:
 Aston Martin must have a proper training program and ensure each and every employee
is trained in health and safety. These will helps in reduction of health related issue and
increment in employee’s performance that resulted in higher growth.
 Company must have a healthy and safety policy that will help them in protecting of
workforce from any health related risk at workplace.
Conclusion
From the above mentioned information, it has been concluded that health and safety at
workplace has more significance and also positively impact on workers by increasing their
productivity and performance level. Different number of challenges were faced by company is
they not develop health and safety at work such as high employee turnover, poor moral etc. In
order to overcome these issues, health and safety act 1974, inspection of workplace were done by
company.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bayram, M., Ünğan, M. C. and Ardıç, K., 2017. The relationships between OHS prevention
costs, safety performance, employee satisfaction and accident costs. International
journal of occupational safety and ergonomics. 23(2). pp.285-296.
Carr, L. J. and et. al., 2016. Total worker health intervention increases activity of sedentary
workers. American journal of preventive medicine. 50(1). pp.9-17.
Choudhry, R. M., 2017. Achieving safety and productivity in construction projects. Journal of
Civil Engineering and Management. 23(2). pp.311-318.
Gopang, M. A., Nebhwani, M., Khatri, A. and Marri, H. B., 2017. An assessment of
occupational health and safety measures and performance of SMEs: An empirical
investigation. Safety science. 93. pp.127-133.
İnan, U. H., Gül, S. and Yılmaz, H., 2017. A multiple attribute decision model to compare the
firms’ occupational health and safety management perspectives. Safety science. 91.
pp.221-231.
Kaynak, R., Toklu, A. T., Elci, M. and Toklu, I. T., 2016. Effects of occupational health and
safety practices on organizational commitment, work alienation, and job
performance: using the PLS-SEM approach. International Journal of Business and
Management. 11(5). pp.146-166.
Kunyk, D. and et. al., 2016. Employers’ perceptions and attitudes toward the Canadian national
standard on psychological health and safety in the workplace: A qualitative
study. International journal of law and psychiatry. 44. pp.41-47.
Magnavita, N., 2017. Productive aging, work engagement and participation of older workers. A
triadic approach to health and safety in the workplace. Epidemiology, Biostatistics
and Public Health. 14(2).
Mohammadfam, I. and et. al., 2016. Developing an integrated decision making approach to
assess and promote the effectiveness of occupational health and safety management
systems. Journal of Cleaner Production. 127. pp.119-133.
von Thiele Schwarz, U., Hasson, H. and Tafvelin, S., 2016. Leadership training as an
occupational health intervention: Improved safety and sustained productivity. Safety
science. 81. pp.35-45.
Online
Benstead. S, 2019., Why is health and safety important in the workplace?. [Online]. Available
through:< https://www.breathehr.com/blog/why-is-health-and-safety-important-in-the-
workplace>
Weakley. L, 2020., The Importance of Health and Safety in the Workplace. [Online]. Available
through:< https://workplacediversity.com/articles/The-Importance-of-Health-and-Safety-in-
the-Workplace>
Kidman. T, 2016., Tips To Improve Health And Safety In The Workplace. [Online]. Available
through:< https://www.theselfemployed.com/11-tips-improve-health-safety-workplace//>
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Appendix
Questionnaire
Q1) What are the effective role of health and safety at workplace of an organisation?
a). Reduce turnover and absenteeism
b). Increase productivity and quality
c). Protects employees from illness and injury
Q2) How health and safety at work helps Aston Martin in improving employee’s performance
and productivity?
a). Reduce workplace stress
b). Reduce health and safety hazards
c). Prevent illness and injury
Q3) What are issue may be face by Aston Martin by negating health and safety at workplace?
a). High employee turnover
b). Reduce productivity
c). Reduce employee moral
Q4) What are the effective ways by which Aston Martin can develop safely and healthier
working environment for their employees?
a). Implementation of health and safety work act 1974
b). Inspect workplace
c). Create a supporting environment and identify safety as a core value
Q5) Recommend different ways for Aston Martin in promoting good health and safety at
workplace.
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