Walt Whitman wrote ' All comes by the body, only health puts you in rapport with the universe' (Leaves of Grass).
When people are really healthy they work to full capacity. That's when they delight customers, have the best ideas, feel capable of facing challenges. Positive health promotion benefits everyone - people respond through enlightened self-interest.
Modern health and safety legislation has its origin during the Industrial revolution. Since then the development of industry and the massive flowering of technology have led to a greater need for health and safety control. Providing safe conditions at work is no longer a matter of common sense, if ever it was.
Accidents need to be recorded if they result in lost time at work. Non-fatal injury cases that do not result in lost workdays also need to be recorded if they result in employee termination, transfer or medical treatment beyond simple first aid. If the injury is so minor that only first aid is necessary, then it does not need to be reported. The omission of minor accidents from the reporting requirements undoubtedly is a relief to employers because paperwork is reduced.
Most full time employees are covered by Worker's Compensation insurance, which provided benefits to employees injured in work accidents. Benefits are provided also when there has been a gradual development of health problem (work-related illness).
For a company to understand better Health and Safety Needs, strategic planning has to take place. This will not only provide a better understanding of where the problem lies but it will also provide long-term solutions for the well being of employees.
Such strategic planning should include:
Ø Treatment records from company health insurance claims
Ø Usage patterns of existing support services/health benefits
Ø Occupational health/company doctors referrals
An audit finds out what's actually happening and isolates the real issues af...