What are our most-read top 5 workplace safety articles for 2024? Let’s dive in and see!
We write an article on workplace health and safety each week, covering topics of interest to our readership of safety, training, human resource, and wellbeing professionals.
As we approach the end of 2024, this article provides a summary of each, together with a link back to the original article.
Mental State And Employee Perception of Fairness
Employers and leaders like to think that they treat their employees fairly and with respect. But what if no matter what you do, your employees think they are being treated unfairly? A recent study found that when an employee dislikes their role and is experiencing role conflict that affects their mental state. Their perceptions of fair leadership were at an all-time low.
In other words, when they disliked what they were doing each day and this started to impact on their mental state, they had a gloomy outlook. Their negative attitude led them to report less favourable work conditions and unfair treatment. The study was conducted in Norway across a sample of 6,790 employees in mostly full-time employment over a two-year period. Mental state affects workplace health and safety outcomes.
For this article, we take a look at the findings of this study and several other research studies that investigate organisational justice, the supervisor’s role and employee mental state.
How is Workplace Health and Safety a Strategic Investment?
Health and safety is a strategic investment. How you ask? Traditionally, work health and safety is measured by the impact on the business bottom line using lag indicators. Forward-thinking organisations are railing against this outdated view justifying increased investment on strategic grounds such as the impact of performance on reputation, the attraction of key staff and strong supply chain relationships.
This article summarises research conducted by Dr Sharron O’Neil for Macquarie University. It provides key arguments to support the need to ensure that CFOs, Accountants and Work Health and Safety Professionals work together to influence an organisation’s critical health and workplace safety risks.
Managing Warehouse Hazards and Lifting Operations
Workshop and warehouse hazards include the safe operation of overhead cranes to transport materials and heavy component loads. Ensuring complete and constant visibility of the load by the crane operator can be an issue and in these cases, a spotter is required to guide the lift. In these circumstances, the crane operator is subject to a high level of stress, as they have to trust in the judgment of others in order to carry out an operation for which they are responsible.
Crane operations that see a loss of visibility by the operator are one of the main causes of incidents and accidents when performing a lift. Distractions, poor communication, inexperience, noisy environments and so on, make crane operations high-risk warehouse hazards.
This article looks at recent research investigating the risk indicators for safety performance of crane operations, safe lifting capacity guidelines and the impact of using a visual guidance system to monitor lifting operations. The paper looks at leading and lagging indicators for lifting and handling operations through the lens of a chemical accident case study. It’s an oldie but a good example to refresh the need to apply sufficient higher-order controls when using cranes and performing lifting operations.
Workplace Injury: How Important is Your Supervisor?
Because of their day-to-day presence and close relationship with workers, supervisors have a significant influence on workplace safety performance.
Supervisors who encourage safe working practices, prioritise workplace health and safety, provide tools and safety equipment, respond to safety concerns and reward for safe behaviour, see a decreased level of injury in their workplaces.
Their influence is so strong that they’re possibly more important than formal health and safety policies and procedures in championing safe behaviour. In this article, we review Canadian research that surveyed 2,390 workers, to investigate the link between supervisors and managing hazards to reduce workplace injuries.
WHS Training: Endurance or Behaviour Changers?
An in-depth study, into safety culture and the ACT construction industry reveals some very interesting results about WHS training that encapsulates anecdotal evidence from those working closely with the sector, as well as building on previous research. The study findings can be used to provide parallel areas of concern across other high-risk sectors.
The study placed a significant focus on safety culture and climate, investigating organisational commitment, leadership, safety behaviour, engagement, reporting, learning and resources. The report is detailed and extensive and in the interests of time we have distilled some of the findings around training and competency development as that is of significant interest to TIS Training and for those interested in encouraging workplace safety.
Please take a moment to re-read these articles to assist and encourage robust workplace health and safety in your organisation.