Work Environment

Work Environment
Work environment means the surroundings around a person. It is the social and professional environment in which a person is supposed to interact with a number of people. Individuals spend the greater part of their waking hours at work, why not enjoy it? people who are happy within their working environment will work far more effectively and happily than those who are uncomfortable. A comfortable work environment should concentrate in terms of ambience, safety, recreational facilities, climate control, cleanliness and fixtures.

Work Environment
certain aspects have to be considered for the employees to work more effectively.
Fatigue Noise Ventilation Temperature Lighting Safety Stress & Boredom

A great place to work is where employees trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with.
- Robert Levering

Importance of Creating Great Work Environment

Attract and retain quality employees Lower health care costs High Morale & Belongingness Bettering work environment leads to increased productivity & profits Produce higher volume with better customer service at lower cost than rivals 82% of adults satisfied with current employer agreed satisfaction motivates them to go beyond daily job responsibilities Better Quality and new idea generation

Creating Better Work Environment

Empathy Flexibility Open & Timely Feedback Appreciation and Reward Everyones Involvement Managing Expectations Consistency & Control Managers Accountability

Safety

SAFETY
Safety in simple terms means freedom from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss. Protection of a persons physical health Industrial safety or employee safety refers to the protection of workers from the danger of industrial accidents.

NEED FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY

Promote and maintain the highest degree of physical, social and mental well being of workers. Improve productivity and quality of work. Reduce accidents, injuries, absenteeism and labor turnover. Protect workers against any health hazards arising out of work or conditions in which it is carried on. Cost saving High Motivation and Morale Less work disruptions More focus on quality and Improvement Legal and Moral duty

Legal Dimension
Specific articles in constitution are relevant to the safety of employees & safe working conditions
Article 24 : Prohibition of Child labor Article 39 : Equal rights to adequate means of livelihood without discrimination Article 42 : provision of humane conditions at workplace ensuring safety

Ministry of Labor in consultation of International Labor Organization, operates through The director General, Factory Advice Service & Labor Institute (DGFASLI) and coordinates factory inspections

Occupational Safety & Health Act(1970)

OSHAs purpose is to prevent work related injuries, illness and deaths The Law extends to any business regardless of size Established 3 govt. agencies
Occupational Safety & Health Administration Occupational Safety & Health Advisory Commission National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health

Issued a large number of detailed standard covering numerous environmental & occupational hazards including power tools, machine guards, compressed gas, material handling, toxic substances

OSHA
The employer has a general duty to provide a free from recognized hazards workplace to employees and special duty to comply with all the standards of safety and health established under the act The employers need to keep records of work related injuries & illness The OSHA inspectors have the right to enter a workplace and conduct compliance inspection There is provision of penalties and fines in case of violation of such standards

TYPES OF ACCIDENT
ACCIDENTS

INTERNAL
MAJOR ACCIDENT

EXTERNAL
MINOR ACCIDENT

FATAL OR DISABILITY
DISABILITY

TEMPORARY

PERMANENT

SAFETY PROGRAMME
Safety program deals with the prevention of accidents and with minimizing the resulting loss and damage to person and property. Five basic principles must govern the safety program of an organization, they are

FIVE PRINCIPLES
Industrial accidents result from a multiplicity of factors, but these have to be to their root cause, which are usually faults in the management system like
Poor leadership from the top Inadequate supervision Insufficient attention to the design of safety into the system and Poor training facilities

FIVE PRINCIPLES
The most important function is to identify potential hazard, provide effective safety facilities and equipment and to take prompt remedial action. This is possible only
Effective system for reporting all accidents causing damage or injury Adequate accident records and statistics Systematic procedures for carrying out safety checks,inspections and investigations Methods of ensuring that safety equipments is maintained and used

FIVE PRINCIPLES
The safety policies of the organisation by the top management and it must be continuously involved in monitoring safety performance. The management and the supervision must be made fully accountable for safety performance in the working areas they control.

FIVE PRINCIPLES
All employees should be given thorough training in safe methods of work and they should receive continuing education and guidance on eliminating safety hazards and prevention of accidents.

SAFETY PROGRAM PROCESS

Strategic choices Evaluation of effectiveness

Development of safety policy

Implementation of the program

Organization for safety

Analysis of causes for accidents

HEALTH
A general state of physical, mental and emotional well-being. Employees health should be looked from the following angles
Physical health Mental health Noise control Stress management Alcoholism & Drug abuse Violence in work place

Ill health of employees reduces productivity. The worker who Is healthy is always cheerful, confident and is an invaluable asset to the organization.

MENTAL HEALTH
Mental health of employees are given more importance, due to the following reasons
Mental breakdown are common in modern days because of stress, pressures and tensions. Mental disturbances result in reduced productivity and lower profits for the organization. Mental illness takes its toll through
Alcoholism High employee turnover Poor human relationship

HEALTH SERVICE
Periodical medical check up for all employees. Training in first aid to all employees. Provision of healthy sanitary facilities. Special examine of eyes, teeth, & ears when needed. Treatment for minor complaints such as cold, fever and headache. Adequate ventilation, good lighting, tree planting & good residential quarters.

Fatigue

Fatigue
Fatigue is a feeling of extreme tiredness or exhaustion, often involving muscle weakness Its a message to the body to rest. Fatigue-related related are Similar to Those Caused by Alcohol Fatigue can compound until it become disturbing and eventually overwhelming Impacts employee, organization society and nation as a whole National sleep association estimates that fatigue costs more than 100 billion a year in high stress and reduced productivity.

Reasons of Fatigue
Body Rhythm Circadian rhythms Work schedule :
When you work and how much time you have between shifts affect how much opportunity you have to sleep. Working through the night, long shifts, many shifts in a row, and short turnaround reduce the time you have for sleep and increase the likelihood youll become fatigued.

Type of task
complex, demanding tasks and boring, ordinary tasks increase feelings of fatigue.

Work environment
Loud noise, poor lighting, heat or cold, vibration, or humidity increase feelings of fatigue.

Non work-related factors

Balancing shift-work with family and social life can be stressful and make it hard to get adequate sleep. Family demands (e.g., illness) or personal problems (e.g., divorce) increase stress and the likelihood of becoming fatigued.

Unhealthy Daily routine & Life style

Symptoms of Fatigue
Physical: falling asleep, head nodding, heavy eyelids, rubbing eyes, lack of coordination, dizziness, change in appetite, headache, impaired vision, yawning, etc.

Mental: making errors, difficulty making decisions, difficulty concentrating, trouble communicating, short attention span, lapses in memory, slower reaction time
Emotional: irritable, unmotivated, lethargic, lacking in energy, quiet, withdrawn

Effects of Fatigue
Can slower Physical and mental reaction time Increase in number of errors, accidents Poor performance Poor decision Dangerous lapses of micro sleep High stress Loss of focus Degradation of Physical health Poor social and family life

 Employer Responsibilities Appropriate and safe work design, such as schedules that allow for adequate recovery periods during the shift and between shifts Ensuring safe work practices, such as scheduling sensible levels of overtime Assessment, control, and monitoring of fatigue-related hazards Development of policies, procedures and practices to manage fatigue-related risk Information and training about fatigue as a workplace hazard

Employee Responsibilities Arriving at work in a fit state to work Reporting all incidents and accidents, as well as potential fatigue-related hazards Maintaining communication with work colleagues, supervisors, managers Being aware of fatigue and how to counter it in the workplace Avoiding behaviors that place you or others at risk

Fatigue Proofing Strategies

Increased monitoring, working in pairs, checklists, doublechecking
It can be as simple and informal as more frequent conversations with your supervisor over the course of a shift. it can involve more formal procedures for additional, verified supervisory checks on safety-critical work. These can all help ensure that safety-critical work is not at risk from fatigue. Monotonous or boring tasks can worsen feelings of fatigue as much as those that require intense concentration. A break of 10 to 20 minutes is usually enough to improve your performance in the short term. Research has found that performance starts deteriorating after two hours on high-demand tasks It improves your alertness, like getting some fresh air, exercising, or having a coffee.

Task rotation, moving critical tasks to daytime

Additional breaks

Napping

Personal Fatigue Counter-Measures

Developing Healthy habits
No compromise with sleep Eat & Drink Healthy Drink plenty of Fluids Physical exercise and Yoga to stay fit and relax Pursue hobbies Quality time with self, friends and family

Monotony & Boredom

Monotony
The word monotony means tedious sameness, lack of variety, and sameness of something Sometimes it is also called boredom It indicates psychologically undesirable effect of repetitive work found in the factories and offices of industrial and business organizations of today It adversely affects the morale, motivation and productivity of the employees.

Monotony
It is subjective in nature It is related to personality factor It causes stress Effects of monotony/boredom How to overcome monotony- use of psychological tests, introducing change in the job, making jobs meaningful, recreational activities, reducing interruptions in job/work

Reasons
Repetitive monotonous work or lack of work Lack of variety Low task identity or meaninglessness Lack of interest Lack of challenge Improper job design

Impact
Loss of mental concentration or Focus Anxiety Stress Absenteeism Depression Extreme anger and frustration Family conflicts and low QWL Physical illnesses such as heart disease, migraine, headaches, stomach problems, and back problems Degraded quality and lack of new ideas Increased industrial accidents

Prevention
Proper Job design and re-design to integrate
Skill variety Task Identity Task Significance

Challenging Tasks Job rotation, job enlargement, job enrichment Linking performance to rewards Time to socialization, recreation, games