Health and Safety Measures

Question: Task 1 Discuss the employers obligations and liabilities in respect to Alexs ability to perform her job. You should make reference to health and safety legislation. Task 2 As the School Business Manager (SBM responsible for premises management, plays a role in recruitment and manages the non-teaching staff) for the school you have to deal with the immediate issue of Alex and also how best to avoid future issues. Identify and evaluate HRM best practice strategies for managing alcohol and stress in the school. You should make reference to both formal and informal ways that employers might use to deal with this issue. Answer: Introduction Employers are responsible for introducing health and safety measures and management within the company. The rules drafted and implemented have to comply with the health and safety legislation drafted by the authorities. Health safety and welfare programs have to be implemented for increasing the workplace culture and atmosphere of the company. Tasks have to be reasonably practicable to perform and implement. The task can be executed by drafting plans to implement the changes and analysing the benefits associated with the same. Workplace related risks can be minimised by introducing plans that would reduce harm caused to the workers. Harmful or risk involved with the task execution can cause injuries to the employees and discourage the members to work (Starks, 2008). Task 1. Duties of the employers Importance of the health and safety measures cannot be overlooked by the management of the company. The general duty clause describes the obligations of the employers of the company. Information about the safety measures and procedure has to be discussed with the employees regularity. As per the rules, the employers has to take care of the below mentioned factors Ensure that tasks are defined and its practicality to perform are analysed. Workers are not engaged in a particular work of the employees, but are present at the workplace where the task has been carried out (Watson, 2007). Employees of the company are aware about the responsibilities that are expected to be performed at the workplace. As per the regulations, the security measures followed at the workplace has to be evaluated. This would help in developing better plans that would reduce risks to the employees and increase the production process. In order to encourage the members to take the right step for task execution, it is necessary for the management to train the staffs working at the shop floor. This is done to each the staffs the relevance of following security steps to protect the health of the staffs. The process has to be followed for securing the lives of the other workers present or working with the company (Roman and Blum2007). Reasonable practicable approach to protect the employees at the workplace has been mandatory for the company. By introducing due diligence defines process, the challenges associated with the task execution are analysed. This helps the employers and employers to revert human errors that could prove fatal from the security point of view. Training programs enables the staffs to decide the consequence about the action implemented by the company. The practicable approach to secure the work culture differs for organizations. Consequences of due diligence can be estimated from the action plan implemented before the occurrence of accidents (Sutherland and Cooper, 2000). Work related instructions about handling heavy or dangerous equipments at the workplace has to be communicated with the workers. As per the law, the employees of the company are equally responsible for following the security measures as the employers are. Competent worker for the company is the one who is qualified and trained to perform the task efficiently. The training program includes communicating analysing the challenges that could be faced by the staffs at the workplace. It teaches the method that could be followed for handling the crisis situation and following the safety steps. The management of the company would be held responsible for any accidents caused due to the fault of a competent worker working with the organization (Dawson, 2004). Prior responsibilities of the employers Employers have to analyse the relevance of the health and safety measurements expected to be introduced within the company. Some of the pre-preparations that needs to be carried out by the management include - Draft precise written policy that declares or clarifies the future actions and plans drafted by the management Develop positive relationship with the representatives and the unions of the company (European Psychologist 2009). Define the duties and responsibilities of the employees Implement policies that would secure the lives of the employees working in a risk based area Communicate the relevance of policies drafted for protecting the safety or health of the employees working in a risk prone area Supplementary rules for health and safety measures have to be followed by the managers and supervisors of the company. Safety measures have to be evaluated at regular intervals. This needs to be done so as to improve the quality of security check expected to be followed by the members and the management (European Psychologist 2009). Rules and regulations have been drafted with an intention of improving the health and safety measures expected to be followed by the companies. The safety and health measures emphasise the relevance to appoint safety manager or representative who would check the procedure followed for implementing safety measures within the company. The representative would also evaluate different factors that have impacted the employees performance and the effect of the health and safety measures on the work culture and production. Different measures expected to be followed for improving the health and safety measures has to be communicated by the representative to the management and the staffs. Information is gathered from the workplace and the work challenges and reports the details to the management. The report would also contain the details that would state the changes required for implementing the health and safety measures within the company (Hatch, 2006). Training program is one of the most important factors, through which the major accidents at the workplace can be averted. The training program would include the training the employees about the procedure that has to be followed for introducing safety measures while executing the tasks. Important information about the technology usability and the process expected to be followed for implementing the changes has to be implemented (Gajendra and Harrison, 2006) The duty of the employer under the health and safety measures includes outlining the obligations towards the staffs and others working for the company. Working location and the equipments used for carrying out the production activities has to be evaluated. This includes providing facilities that would maximise the wellbeing of the employees. The employers have to make special provision for employees with disability. Exclusive passageways, workstation facilities, and others have to be provided to the members (Blaime, 2005). Liabilities of the employers Noncompliance of the rules and regulations stated by the authorities would be penalised. Authorities failing to comply with the stated rules would be subjected to penalty amount and closure of the operational centres (Jha, 2007). In order to encourage the new and existing members to improve the production activities, it is necessary for analysing the risk factors and communicating the same with the members. The members have to be encouraged to maintain positive work environment, which would help in preventing untoward incidences. Required resources for the conduct of the operational activities have to be developed and communicated with the members of the company (Pfeifer,, 2008). Task 2. Workplace stress Stress at the workplace can affect the working ability of the individual. There are various reasons associated with stress that could directly impact the ability of the individuals. It is necessary to designed effective methods, through which the stress and alcohol can be maintained by the authorities. The process followed can be formal and informal. It is necessary to adopt effective measures that would help in controlling the impact of such factors. In the formal method the participant is encouraged to participate in the wellness program that has been designed to help in overpowering the factors. Informal method basically encourages the members to communicate the problem related to stress (Haefner, 2008). Health and wellness programs Such programs are designed to analyse the cause of the problem. This includes analysing the lifestyle and irregular working hours that could cause stress. Experienced staffs communicate with the members so as to analyse the problem associated with stress and alcohol. Stress related to workplace can be handled or solved through counselling. Such factor can be easily overpowered by analysing the cause of the issue (Hobbs, 2006). The human resource management includes analysing the challenges that can affect the business performance. This includes developing strategies that would encourage the members to talk about the stress factors that impact the performance. Work related stress is one of the common and serious factors that impact the individual performance and productivity planned by the management. Human resource management can design and introduce effective measures that would help in implementing changes that would help the employees to overpower the stress level impacting the business. In this case, the organizational approaches and methods can be analysed and evaluated for implementing the required changes (HeartMath, 2002). The process includes analysing the work culture and the different factors that causes stress in the employees. Communication is one of the important factors that would help in overpowering the stress and issues related to the same. Through developmental program the members can participate in the program that would help in overpowering stress at the workplace. Alcohol consumption is strictly against the rules and regulations drafted by the management of the company. The process expected to be followed for helping the members or employees to control the habit can be done in an informal manner. This involved analysing the challenges or issues faced by the members at work or in personal life (Lluminari, 2004). Human resource department plays a key role in improving the work culture, which includes developing plans to help the employees in identifying the reasons that causes stress. Excessive stress can impact the health of the individual and this is one of the reasons it needs to be controlled. The duties and responsibilities of the employees have to be defined by the employers. This includes developing positive work place culture, which would motivate the staffs to work towards the goal achievement that has been targeted by the management. The pressure handling method has to be designed and communicated with the members. This would help in overpowering the causes of the stress and develop intrinsic skills that are required for increasing the business performance. Human resource department has to select suitable candidates who could easily overpower the stress and challenges existing at the workplace. For this, the selection process has to be streamlined which would help in adopting the changes that are necessary for performing the task in the right manner. Short stress faced by the employees can be overpowered through effective communication method. The demands and expectations of the employees have to be analysed, as this would help in improving the business performance. Change with the work place culture and the steps followed for executing the task has to be designed and implemented by the management in the right manner. This would help the management to introduce the best practices that would help in controlling the physical problem that is mainly caused due to stress faced by the employees at the workplace (Roman and Blum, 2002). Employers and employee relationship HRM of the company develop and introduce effective methods, through which the relationship between the employer and employees can be strengthened. This helps in improving the quality of discussion that is held for solving the issues faced by the employees while executing the tasks at the workplace. Different counselling sessions can be conducted for the employees to discuss about the reasons that cause stress at the workplace. Some of the factors can be associated with the challenges existing at the workplace, and high demands placed by the management. This increases the expectations of the employers from the employees. It is necessary to analyse the rules that has been drafted by the employers for executing the task. The challenges can be overpowered by implementing effective communication process between the employers and the employees. Program development forms an integral part of the health and safety measures that has been adopted and implemented for the employees of the company (Hobbs, 2006). Conclusion The human resource department of the company are entrusted with the responsibilities to implement effective measures through which the risks associated with the workplace can be overpowered. It is necessary to follow the right steps that would help in increasing the business performance and assisting the members or the employees of the company to overpower the challenges or stress existing at the workplace. References Blaime, M. D. Penn Program for Stress Management. Complementary/Alternative Therapies at the University of Pennsylvania. 4.1. (Winter 2005). . Dawson, T . Industry Trends, Costs, and Management of Long Working Hours. 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