Managemen

t Enhance
24th,
Employee
Safety in
Workplace
Ana Laura Aguilar Solís – 430090005
Human Resources
Rodrigo Rodríguez
 Management Enhance Employee Safety in Workplace
The safety and security of employees, guests and vendors is of extreme importance to companies,
but the employee’s is more relevant on the eye of Human Resources because they are a
company’s most valuable asset.

Accidents and injuries in all the departments of a company have a serious impact on its ability to
offer adequate service. In an environment perceived as unsafe, morale and production decrease
while turnover and absenteeism increase to levels above the usual. Accidents also impact through
loss of wages, pay of medical bills or higher insurance premiums.

Management has a moral obligation to provide a safe, secure place for clients and employees as
well as the legal obligation to meet national, state, and local safety regulations applicable. The
image of a company, like a hotel can be severely damaged by one major incident as well as reduce
its quality. Preventing them enhances client’s perceptions of comfort, safety and security. This
kind of efforts, are usually directed by Human Resources Managers.

Accidents can be avoided by carefully training employees and others to be alert to hazards. Lack of
safety training results in high risk of workplace injury and illness, which may result in death, injury,
pain, and suffering. Insurance reduces the risk through prevention of the loss. The areas where
hospitality employees suffer accidents include kitchens, bars, stairways, boiler rooms, elevator
shafts, laundry rooms but these are not the only ones.

The creation of a successful safety program can best be accomplished through a joint commitment
on the part of management and employee representatives. A trainer needs up-to-date
information, follows and reviews session plans and training aids, makes appropriate tests,
documents the process, and maintains the training focus. The employee involvement is necessary
to improve safety conditions. They have unique abilities, skills, and knowledge that can be used to
empower them to create a safe work environment.

The most important steps to enhance employee safety in the workplace are:

 To know the applicable safety regulations so actions to comply with them are taken.
 To develop written policies and rules in procedures, methods and guidelines that aim to
maintain a safe work environment for all employees.
 To conduct appropriate training for all staff, especially for those in contact with potentially
dangerous materials and equipment.

In order to comply with those steps, different methods can be followed, some of them are:

 Safety and Security Meetings.

 Safety and Security Committees.
 Employee Rewards.
Safety and Security Meetings: these are held in order to promote safety and security by addressing
topics such as slips and falls, ladder safety and electrical dangers among others, insurance carriers
can offer classes to reduce accidents.

Safety and Security Committees: they are formed by selected hourly employees and managers
that meet periodically to discuss unsafe work conditions and ways to deal with them.

Employee Rewards: To praise departments that reduce/eliminate accidents or unsafe conditions is

of interest to the company’s employees, they can go from special recognitions to bonuses.

Different topics are addressed when planning how to enhance employee safety at the workplace:

 Emergency and Natural Disaster

 Personal Safety
 Accident and Injury
 Equipment
 Problem Employees monitoring

Emergency and Natural Disaster: having an evacuation plan (this can be practiced at least every
month). Any given evacuation plan should conclude with head counting for employees after
exiting the building. Emergency supplies that should be kept on the desk include a flashlight,
bottled water, shelf-stable food and an evacuation map.

Personal Safety: policies should be divulgated and enforced. They go from related to harassment
to leaving the building accompanied in case of being late.

Accident and Injury: equipment manuals and instructions should be given to the staff that will
work with it. Best practices for lifting heavy or awkward items, use of carts, back braces and toxic
chemicals or hazardous substances should be instructed.

Equipment: to help control staff access, especially during off work hours, include keys and pass-
cards. Surveillance cameras also help alert security personnel about people in unauthorized areas.

Problem Employees monitoring: staff members that are prone to violence should be identified and
kept a close eye on since they could disturb safety through intimidation, bullying and threats.

To conclude, it is important to highlight what is needed in order to implement these procedures:

 To create awareness in all staff members through an appointed suitable qualified person
to be in charge of implementing health, safety and security at the workplace.
 To keep logs of taken and refreshment training sessions, staff signatures that confirm
having read the company’s policies and procedures. Issue appropriate personal protective
equipment and clothing as well as facilities.
 To regularly monitor the procedures, revise them in the light of new development of
accidents and record these. Implement new laws on workplace in the company’s policies.
Bibliography:
Stutts, A. & Wortman, J.(2006) “Hotel and Lodging Management and Introduction” Wiley, New
Jersey,USA.

Human Resources Glion Manual

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7289166_methods-enhancing-workplace-security-safety.html
http://www.ehow.com/way_5660850_safety-strategies-workplace.html
http://www.ehow.com/facts_7352504_security-workplace-safety.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_6791397_implement-health-safety-security-procedures.html