by hisbabydoll

Created on: May 31, 2010

Your health is not for sale. 

While most employers would like to focus the onus of health and safety at work onto the worker, it is primarily the employers job to ensure your health at work.  Workers generally lack the power to change procedural or administrative decisions ultimately affecting their health.  Fortunately, in most of North America, the European Union, and Australia, the employer has health and safety obligations including:

* Providing you with health hazard information pertanent to your safety

* Training and informing you of the proper ways to do your job in order to keep you safe and healthy

* Providing you with the opportunity to participate in initiatives geared toward keeping you safe at work - either on your own, or through a health and safety representative or committee.

Historically, employers have preferred to follow a course of handing out personal protective equipment such as ear plugs or face masks to workers dealing with health hazards.   More recently, employers have been shown that attacking health hazards at the source is ultimately a more effective way of dealing with these same hazards.  For instance, using ventilation instead of masks, or dampening noise sources instead of handing out ear plugs.  Also, research has shown that well informed workers, with the ability to affect their own health and safety, are less likely to be injured on the job. 

At this point I'd like to pause and say, I am not missing the point of the topic.  Since time began, workers and their lifestyles have been blamed for worker illnesses and injuries.  For some workers, this may be true.  For the majority of workers however, ill health and injury are caused by:

* High demand to work very long hours, often without overtime pay;

* Working with health and safety hazards without the proper training or information;

* Little or no control over work situation;

* Employers with eyes greedily on higher profits, cutting corners and endangering workers by doing so;

* Employer failure to provide or to follow health and safety policies, procedures and programs;

* Failure to train new workers, or to provide training in an appropriate format or language; and

* Lack of work-life balance.

Stay healthy at work by learning your health and safety rights.  Obviously, eating right, sleeping and exercise are key to everyone`s good heatlh.  When it comes to staying healthy at work, this is not the issue.  People have the freedom to live their lives as they please.  Occupational health and safety needs to stay focused on the workplace.  If you do not know your rights, there are many sources of information you can contact to learn them!  These sources have endless healthy workplace information.

In Canada visit:

www.ccohs.on.ca Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety

www.mol.on.ca Ontario Ministry of Labour

In the US visit:

www.osha.com Occupational Safety and Health

Internationally visit:

www.ilo.org The International Labour Organization

www.who.int The World Health Organization

www.cdc.gov Though located in the US this information is universal - The Center for Disease Control.  At this link visit the Workplaces tab, as well as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health tab. 

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