Chapter 12

Safety, Health,
Well-Being,
and Security

Prepared by Joseph Mosca

Monmouth University

Copyright ©2012 by Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 12- 1

Learning Objectives

1. Identify and discuss the central elements

associated with employee safety and
health.
2. Discuss the basic issues involved in the
physical work environment.
3. Discus health- and stress-management in
organizations.
4. Identify and describe the most important
HR-related security issues in organizations.
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Organizations and OSHA

 OSHA authorized the U.S. government to

create and enforce various standards
regarding occupational safety and health.
 OSHA was assigned to the Department of
Labor.
 The Department of Health was given the
task of sponsoring research to establish
criteria for various tasks and occupations
and for training in employee compliance.
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Controlling Accidents at Work
 Safety engineers are
experts who carefully
study the workplace, try
to identify and isolate
particularly dangerous
situations, and
recommend solutions for
dealing with those
situations.

 Employee training is an
important part of attempts
to control accidents at
work.
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Controlling Occupational Diseases
 Organizations should
be thoroughly familiar
with all hazardous
circumstances in the
work environment that
might cause
occupational diseases.
 If these hazards can be
eliminated or
minimized, then the
organization should
attempt to do so.
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Illumination, Temperature, and Office
and Work-Space Design
 Evidence shows that extremes of temperature
(in either direction) can affect both attitudes and
decision making on the job.
 Different tasks require different levels of optimal
lighting, and employees who perceive their work
environments as dark are less satisfied.
 Background music can improve attitudes and
performance.

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Causes of Stress at Work

 Stress is a person’s
adaptive response to
a stimulus that
places excessive
psychological or
physical demands on
him or her.

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Stress and Personality Types

 Type A Personality:
characterized by being
highly competitive and
highly focused on work,
with few interests outside
of work.

 Type B Personality: characterized by being

less aggressive, more patient and easy-going,
and less prone to stress.
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Consequences of Stress at Work

 Burnout is a general feeling of exhaustion

that develops when an individual
simultaneously experiences too much
pressure and too few sources of
satisfaction.

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Consequences of Stress at Work (cont)

 Turnover refers to people leaving their

jobs, whether voluntarily or involuntarily
(i.e., they are terminated).
 When turnover involves especially
productive people, it becomes a cost to the
organization, for then those individuals
need to be replaced and trained.

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Wellness Programs in Organizations

 Institutional programs for managing

stress are undertaken through established
organizational mechanisms.

 Collateral stress programs are

organizational programs created
specifically to help employees deal with
stress.

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Workplace Security

 A safe environment makes employees feel

secure.
 Employees need to feel safe from:
 Bombings
 Kidnappings

 Terrorists

 U.S. firms are engaging in

high-level emergency preparedness.

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