Occupational health is specialized to handle work-related illnesses and injuries. The primary focus of occupational health is to promote employee safety and well-being which is done through several means including:
· Pre-employment medicals
· Employee training
· Risk assessments
· First aid training from first aid course in ottawa
· Incident management
In summary, occupational health assures employee well-being and safety. But what is its benefit to the organization? In this blog post, we will explore why you should develop an effective health and safety policy and invest in occupational health.
Benefits of Occupational Health
Many organisations only invest in occupational health because of a legal obligation. However, if the organisation does not understand the complete set of benefits that occupational health offers, it won’t prioritise occupational health. Here are all the benefits that occupational health offers to organisations:
1. Legal Compliance
One of the most significant and widely known benefits of investing in occupational health is legal compliance. If an organisation fails to offer a safe workplace to its employees, it might get into legal trouble, increasing costs on worker compensation, healthcare costs, and fines.
2. Improved Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is a complex concept. Remuneration is not the only reason employees stay motivated to perform at work. The workplace culture and the organisation’s commitment to the employees’ health and safety are two important factors that keep employees engaged and performing well.
Many organisations offer healthcare benefits that are greater than legally required. This includes in-house therapy, occupational health clinics, counselling services, medical coverage for the family, and rehabilitation services to keep employees happy, leading them to perform at work.
Improved employee engagement also means that the organisation lowers its turnover, and reduces costs associated with hiring and training new employees.
3. Reduced Costs
Occupational health can reduce costs in the long run including cost savings in legal matters and worker compensation claims. A good health and safety policy also means that the workers are engaged on the job, absenteeism is reduced, and productivity is not lost. Again, this offers several avenues for cost saving.
4. Health and Safety Culture
Focus on occupational health also creates awareness of health and safety among employees. When employees are aware of the risks and SOPs to follow, it promotes a culture of health and safety, which creates a safe work environment with minimal effort over time. This means that the employees do not have to be reminded to follow SOPs and wear safety equipment. They can report health and safety discrepancies and participate actively in health and safety efforts.
With a culture of health and safety, employees are more confident and engaged in the workplace, which, again, serves to improve the overall organization.
5. Client Requirements
In some industries, business clients require that the organisation follow health and safety protocols. Therefore, with a health and safety system, organisations have a better chance of securing high-paying, valuable clients.
Conclusion
Occupational health is important for every organisation. However, understanding its importance is key to making sure that it is taken seriously by the top management and the employees.
