Health and Safety of Employees

Health and Safety

The following are areas to improve the health and safety of employees, the workplace and the environment:

• Ban alcohol, cigarette, and illicit drug use in the workplace.
• Encourage physical fitness; consider health club discounts.

• Quit smoking.
• Maintain a desirable weight by eating a low-fat diet.
• Exercise most days (moderately intense for at least 30 minutes).
• Limit intake of alcohol.
  

• Offer health insurance encouraging preventive care.
• Sponsor health promotion/prevention programs at work.
• Get employees' input on job improvement and hazard prevention; they often are the most knowledgeable.

• Participate in health promotion and medical screening programs.
• Understand personal health risks (breast, lung, skin, or prostate cancer; heart disease; HIV; noise-induced hearing loss; stress).
• Seek recommended immunizations; consider flu vaccines.

• Provide written safety responsibilities and job training, and fit jobs to workers.
• Inspect and maintain equipment, tools, machinery; provide machine guards.
• Create and clearly post a disaster plan for immediate evacuation; conduct drills and organize a first aid team.
• Clearly mark exits with unobstructed lighted signs and clear facility of slip-and-fall-causing materials.

• Follow workplace safety guidelines and job procedures.
• Report unsafe conditions to supervisor immediately.
• Locate your nearest exit; walk the route you would take in emergencies.
• Know your limitations if ill or on medications with side effects (impaired driving, delayed reaction time, drowsiness).

• Inform employees of job risks.
• Maintain and update Material Safety Data Sheets.
• Properly label, store, and dispose of hazardous chemicals.
• Provide and maintain personal protective equipment; train staff for proper use.
• Decrease potential hazards with engineering, less hazardous materials, job rotation, and breaks.
• Label confined spaces and provide written entry program and rescue equipment.

• Recognize potential hazards in your workplace and note past exposures.
• Wear personal protective equipment such as respirators and earplugs.
• Report accidental exposures to supervisor immediately.
• Seek medical attention promptly for work-related illnesses, injuries, and exposures.
• Avoid eating or smoking at work sites; always wash hands before eating.

• Develop relationships with local community and environmental health and safety professionals.
• Protect the environment; follow all appropriate regulations.

• Report spills or accidental releases immediately.
• Discard hazardous waste properly.

Source: Protect Your Health and Safety at Work, Labor Day Checklist - The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2006.