Working violance
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Workplace violence can range from threats to physical assaults and is one of the leading causes of job-related deaths. Some workers are at higher risk, such as those who work alone, work with money or valuable property, or work in healthcare or community settings with extensive public contact. Employers can help protect employees by establishing a zero-tolerance violence policy, conducting workplace violence training, securing the workplace, providing personal safety devices for field staff, and developing policies for home healthcare visits. Employees should learn to recognize and avoid dangerous situations, report any safety concerns, and avoid traveling alone whenever possible. Following an incident, employers should provide medical treatment, report to police, inform victims of legal rights, discuss circumstances with employees, and offer counseling
Working violance
- 1. Workplace violence can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide, one of the leading causes of job-related deaths. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of violence in your workplace. Who Is Vulnerable? According to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), some 2 million American workers are victims of workplace violence each year. Workplace violence can strike anywhere, and no one is immune. Some workers, however, are at increased risk. Among them are workers who: Exchange money with the public. Guard valuable property or possessions. Deliver passengers, goods, or services. Work alone or in small groups. Have late night or early morning work hours. Work in high-crime areas. Work in community settings and homes where they have extensive contact with the public. This includes healthcare and social service workers such as visiting nurses, psychiatric evaluators, and probation officers. Have jobs out in the community, such as gas and water utility employees, phone and cable TV installers, and letter carriers. Have jobs in retail settings. Have a mobile workplace such as a taxicab or police cruiser. What Can You Do to Help Protect These Employees? The best protection employers can offer is to establish a zero-tolerance policy toward workplace violence against or by their employees. Typically, such policies also have a zero-tolerance toward threats of violence. You should establish a workplace violence prevention program or incorporate the information into an existing accident prevention program, employee handbook, or manual of standard operating procedures. Train all employees about the policy and be sure that they understand that all claims of workplace violence will be investigated and remedied promptly. In addition, you can offer protections such as the following: Encourage employees to report and log all incidents and threats of workplace violence Provide safety education for employees so they know what conduct is not acceptable, what to do if they witness or are subjected to workplace violence, and how to protect themselves. Secure the workplace. Where appropriate to the business, install video surveillance, extra lighting, and alarm systems and minimize access by outsiders through identification badges, electronic keys, and guards. Provide drop safes to limit the amount of cash on hand. Keep a minimal amount of cash in registers during evenings and late night hours. Equip field staff with cellular phones and handheld alarms or noise devices, and require them to prepare a daily work plan and keep a contact person informed of their location throughout the day. Keep employer- provided vehicles properly maintained. Instruct employees not to enter any location where they feel unsafe. Introduce a “buddy system” or provide an escort service or police assistance in potentially dangerous situations or at night. Develop policies and procedures covering visits by home healthcare providers. Address the conduct of home visits, the presence of others in the home during visits, and the worker’s right to refuse to provide services in a clearly hazardous situation. How Can Employees Protect Themselves? Nothing can guarantee that an employee will not become a victim of workplace violence. However, these steps can help reduce the odds: Learn how to recognize, avoid, or diffuse potentially violent situations by attending personal safety training programs.
- 2. Alert supervisors to any concerns about safety or security, and report all incidents immediately in writing. Avoid traveling alone into unfamiliar locations or situations whenever possible. Carry only minimal money and required identification into community settings. What Should Employers Do Following an Incident of Workplace Violence? Provide prompt medical evaluation and treatment after the incident. Report violent incidents to the local police promptly. Inform victims of their legal right to prosecute perpetrators. Discuss the circumstances of the incident with employees. Encourage employees to share information about ways to avoid similar situations in the future. Offer stress debriefing sessions and posttraumatic counseling services to help workers recover from a violent incident. Investigate all violent incidents and threats, monitor trends in violent incidents by type or circumstance, and institute corrective actions. Workplace Violence: Prepare an Effective Violence Prevention Plan Using the Plan/Prevent/Protect Model Do people at work suffer from work-related muscle strains, joint inflammation, back pain, tendonitis, ligament sprains, pinched nerves, carpal tunnel syndrome or rotator cuff syndrome? Do they miss time? These are all examples of musculoskeletal injury. As the name suggests, these are injuries that involve the muscles and the skeleton – basically the parts of the body that make us move. More specifically, these work-related injuries affect muscles, tendons, joints, ligaments, bones, nerves and blood vessels. They are caused by certain work tasks that place excessive strain on our bodies over time. You may have also heard musculoskeletal injury referred to as : • Sprains and strains • Overexertion injuries • Soft tissue injuries • Repetitive strain injuries 1. RECOGNIZE SIGNS 2. SPOT HAZARDS 3. FIX HAZARDS 4. ELIMINATE FUTURE HAZARDS STEP 1 RECOGNIZE THE SIGNS Musculoskeletal injury comes with warning signs and symptoms before an injury occurs, and long before any work is missed. Listen to your workforce. Ensure your managers, supervisors and front-line personnel keep an eye out for things like: • Comments about discomfort or pain • Swelling of joints and muscles • Stretching or rubbing muscles while working • Self-modifying equipment or workstations • Quality issues, production bottlenecks, work needing to be re-done • Repetitive similar injuries with particular tasks • High turnover or absenteeism STEP 2 SPOT THE HAZARDS Beyond the signs and symptoms, there are some key hazards you should also watch for. Start with work tasks associated with past injury to identify the hazards. Talk to the workers about the most difficult parts of the job, and together, find a better way. What you learn could bring great
- 3. returns. HAZARDS OF MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURY INCLUDE: POSTURE HAZARDS: Awkward body postures held for extended periods • Hands above the head or elbows above the shoulders • Hands below the knees • Awkward wrist angles with the hands extended backward or flexed forward • Back and neck bent or twisted • Kneeling or squatting postures • Same posture over time, without stretching FORCE HAZARDS: Applying excessive force with the body • Lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling heavy or awkward objects • Using the hand as a hammer to position objects in place • Pinching or gripping unsupported objects with the hands REPETITION HAZARDS: Doing highly repetitive work for long periods • Repetitive tasks that use the same muscles and movements, over a long period of time • Not enough breaks to allow rest or recovery from task ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS: Where the work is done is as important as the “how.” • Inappropriate lighting for the task can cause eye fatigue and awkward body postures • Excessive equipment vibration • Excessive exposure to heat or cold without protection INDIVIDUAL WORKER HAZARDS • Worker physical health and fitness • Differences in strength • Activities outside the workplace that involve high physical forces, awkward postures or repetitive actions ORGANIZATIONAL HAZARDS • Poor communication and organizational cooperation • Limited worker involvement in decisions that affect working tasks • Poor corporate culture or low worker morale STEP 3 -FIX THE HAZARDS As you read the suggestions below, think about your workplace. Discuss hazards with the workforce and consider what improvements could be made to the way work is done. IMPROVE WORKING POSTURE. ‘How can we…’ • Position work or change workstation layout to eliminate excessive reaching or leaning forward • Position frequently used tools and equipment within easy reach • Change table height to accommodate majority, or consider adjustable tables to accommodate Everyone REDUCE THE NEED TO LIFT AND MANUALLY MOVE MATERIALS. ‘How can we…’ • Use mechanical lifts to support and to move heavy loads • Try to eliminate the lift by changing how objects are stored If you must lift, follow these general guidelines: • Limit one-off lifts (1-2 lifts per shift) to 75 lbs (34 kg) • Limit infrequent lifts (under 10 lifts per shift) to 55 lbs (25 kg) • Limit more frequent lifts (up to 25 lifts per shift) to 25 lbs (11 kg) • Limit frequent lifts (up to 2 times per minute) to 10 lbs (4.5 kg)
- 4. REDUCE PHYSICAL FORCE NEEDED TO DO THE JOB. ‘How can we…’ • Use mechanical lifts to support and to move heavy loads • Use carts, rollers or conveyors to support and move materials • Install or change handles to improve hand and arm posture • Replace heavy tools with lighter ones • Use tool balancers to support the weight of heavy tools • Use cushioned floor matting to reduce fatigue from standing • Have workers pick up fewer objects at a time to reduce load weight • Ensure tools and equipment are maintained in top form • Keep cutting tools sharp to reduce force needed REDUCE TASK REPETITION. ‘How can we…’ • Adjust the overall work design to reduce task repetition • Change tasks to avoid long-term repetitive action ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. ‘How can we…’ • Protect against excessive heat and cold • Ensure appropriate lighting • Reduce vibration from tools and equipment INDIVIDUAL FACTORS. ‘How can we…’ • Promote individual physical fitness through company wellness programs • Encourage stretching before and during work to warm-up muscles and help relieve strain • Provide training and coach frequently on how to move material safety using lift equipment and safe postures ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS. ‘How can we…’ • Help all staff understand signs and hazards • Promote early reporting of symptoms or discomforts • Gather ideas of potential improvements from everyone • Share solutions throughout the company STEP 4-ELIMINATE FUTURE HAZARDS USING ERGONOMICS DESIGN Whether you work for a multi-national or a small business, you can benefit from ergonomics. Ergonomics is about designing for human use. It allows quality work to be completed safely and easily by fitting the job to the worker. THE 5 W’S: WHAT l WHO l WHERE l WORST-CASE l WHOOPS! Managers who think from an ergonomics mindset ask themselves five simple questions every time they purchase a piece of equipment, every time they build or modify a workspace or facility, every time they think about how a job will be done, and every time they create a new position. Ergonomics is a way of thinking about workplace design that maximizes the safety and efficiency of the workplace by getting it right the first time. QUESTION 1: WHAT ARE THE TASK REQUIREMENTS? Put yourself in the shoes of your worker. What does the person have to do, step by step, to perform the job? For example, how heavy will handled items be? How frequently will actions be repeated? Will the person have easy physical access to stored items or other parts of the workspace that must be regularly accessed? How long will the person stand or sit at one time? By thinking this through carefully, you’ll have insight to potential risks before anyone actually performs the job. QUESTION 2: WHO IS DOING THE WORK?
- 5. Design jobs so that most people can safely perform all tasks efficiently. Fitting the work to the worker means considering the physical aspects of the job and determining how people of different heights and strengths can do the work. How can the job be set up and what type of equipment will allow people to work safely? Will the employee need experience, or is this an entry-level task? Will training be required? Consider these issues up front so you can more effectively plan and schedule training and skill development. Making jobs easier will expand the potential workforce capable of completing the work tasks. This is especially important with worker shortages. QUESTION 3: WHERE IS THE WORK BEING DONE? Ergonomic thinking isn’t just about how the work gets done – it’s also about where it gets done. Are there any concerns with the physical operating environment? Is it too cold, or too hot? Is there enough light, or the right kind of light, for the task at hand? Is the weather a factor? What personal protective equipment is required? QUESTION 4: WORST-CASE SCENARIO – WHAT IS IT? What is the worst case scenario? By working through questions 1-3, you have a good opportunity to identify potential safety and injury risk situations. Now think about what could go wrong. Think in worst-case scenarios. Identify all potential hazards. Think about your busiest times of the year – excessive workload can compel employees to take short-cuts, thereby increasing their risk. How likely is it that workers will be injured? How severely? By answering questions like these, you are in a better position to eliminate or reduce those risks. QUESTION 5:– WHAT IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF HUMAN ERROR? People make mistakes. How much room for error is there in the job? In many cases, the consequence may be insignificant – often by sheer luck. However the same ‘error’ may lead to more severe consequences, depending on a number of factors. Ask yourself: Could an error result in injury to the worker, surrounding co-workers, or those on the next shift? By arming yourself with this knowledge ahead of time, you are in a better position to make changes to either avoid error or reduce its consequences. TAKE ACTION TODAY. Take a walk around your workplace, talk with the workforce and discuss potential hazards and solutions. Then, start the ball rolling to make improvements. You’ll end up with a safer workplace, happier workers, and fewer workplace injuries. Prevention of Work Place Violence Step 1 Establish the framework for consultation with and the participation of the policy committee or, if there is no policy committee, the work place committee or the health and safety representative. Step 2 Develop and post at a place accessible to all employees a work place violence prevention policy. Step 3 Identify all factors that contribute to work place violence, taking into account Step 4 Assess the potential for work place violence using the factors Step 5a Implement systematic controls as soon as practicable, but not later than 90 days after assessment to eliminate or minimize the risk of work place violence. Step 5b Establish and implement procedures for follow-up maintenance of corrective measures, including measures to respond to unforeseen risk of work place violence.
- 6. Step 6 Review the effectiveness of the work place violence prevention measures and update them whenever there is a change that compromises the effectiveness of those measures, but at least every three years.