Implementing Amendments To The Occupational Health And Safety Act: A Human Resource Practitioner’s Guide
- December 21, 2023/ Uncategorized
Implementing the Amended Change
This paper discusses the impact of the change in an organizational context. Organizational change has a huge impact across all areas. Change within an organization has the biggest impact on employees working in the organization. This paper discusses the change of employee reduction that happened in an organization I was working for immediately I completed college. The paper explains the positive and negative effect the change had on me. The paper also discusses the resistance that the change experienced during implementation and when employees heard of the change. Additionally, the paper discusses the amended Organizational Health and Safety Act and how the amendments will be implemented in an organization.
I completed college, and I got my first job just three months later. The job was well paying, and the organizational had a global reputation with operations in more than 100 countries in the world. The company had a very good remuneration scheme, and the welfare of employees was highly regarded. After one year in the Job, the company announced it would sell some brands of the company and hence result in retrenchment of employees. The change would also result in the reorganization of the organization. The change impacted me positively in that I was determined to work hard more and become the best so that I could be retained by the company. I was also positive since I saw this as an opportunity to get promotion when reorganization occurs. Despite the positive thinking I had about the change, I was also resistance since the future was so uncertain and I wasn’t sure whether my input to the organization was needed any more. I was also resistant to the change since I felt that the change may affect my supervisors and other members of middle level management who had mentored me since I joined the company.
The occupational Health and Safety Act is an Act of parliament that seeks to protect the rights of employees in order to guarantee safe and healthy working conditions. The Act sets laws and provides guidance on the working standards and regulations in every organization. The Occupational Health and Safety Act was amended in the year 2018 and the changes touched on Workplace Harassment and violence, obligations of work parties, reporting of incidents as well as Worksite health and Safety committees and representatives (Mattingly, 2018).
The Joint Worksite health and safety committee(HSC) are a group of employees and employer representatives who work together to identify and solve concerns that are related to health and safety at the workplace (Jabri, 2017). Health and Safety representatives also promote awareness among employees and promote the interest of employees on matters of health and safety. The changes to the Act requires that when twenty or more workers are at a work site, and work is expected to last for more than 90 days, the employer must establish an HSC (Little, 2014). When a work site has between five to nineteen employees expected to work for more than ninety days, the employer should ensure that employees choose their HS representatives (Ribeiro, 2014). The changes to the Act requires that employers must:
- Provide enough resources, training and time to ensure that HS committee members are effective in their duties
- Plan and hold meetings and carry out duties during the usual working hours
- Print and pin names and contacts of committee representatives where workers can see
Communicating the Change
The Act also establishes that the workers choose HS committee members unless the workers union states otherwise (Skyberg, 2011). The employer must meet the representatives regularly to discuss issues relating to health and safety as well as agree on how regular meetings should be held. According to the Act, if the work site has more than one employer, the prime contractor is responsible for establishing Health and Safety Committees.
The OHSA amendment also establishes that the HS committee must comprise at least four members. Half of these must be employees. Each Health and Safety Committee must have at least two co-chairpersons. The representatives and co-chairs should be selected by the employees and should serve for a term of not less than one year. The employer representative and the co-chair are appointed by the employer.
The OHSA amendment requires that the employer or main contractor must train HS representatives in order to equip them with the skills and knowledge that will help them to function effectively. Committee members and representatives must be given 16 hours to attend health training programs and seminars.
The amendment of the OHS act will help in reducing accidents in work sites. This is because, the Act will ensure that workers have adequate representation in the health committee and hence ensure that any events that are likely to cause accidents are detected on time and precautions taken (Campbell, 2014). The committee will help to identify hazards at the workplace with the help of employees who are directly involved in conducting the task.
Another advantage of the Act is that it requires that the employer provides adequate resources and time to help the committee perform its task (Mattingly, 2018). This means that committee members wont be so much involved in regular tasks at the work site and hence will get time to concentrate on matters of health and safety of workers.
The amendment is also important since it establishes that the employer should offer training to committee members. This ensures that the committee is effective when performing its functions since the members will have the right set of skills and knowledge to perform their duties.(Koirala, 2015)
The committee will also have a voice in deciding the number of times the committee should meet in a month as well as carrying out regular workplace inspections in order to ensure the right of every worker are adequately represented.
One disadvantage of the amendment is that the HS committee might turn into a workers union. This is because, the committee will be very powerful in decision making on matters of health and safety and hence it might become so political and hence interfere in normal running of the organization (Mattiske, 2011). The employee representatives may incite workers to sabotage work when they deem it unsafe or unhealthy and hence jeopardizing the function of the organization.
Positive Behaviors to be Observed in Employees
Another disadvantage of the amendment is that it requires the representatives to be accorded time for training and performing their committee duties. The representatives might spend too much time on health and safety issues and may therefore abandon their main role in the organization. This may lead to decline in performance.
- Implementing change at the workplace
Training sections will be organized after end of working hours to inform and educate workers on the amendments and the likely impact they are likely to have on them (Maguire, 2007). The amendments will also be published and placed in various notice boards within the work sites. Additionally, workers will receive emails with clear details of the amendment. Social media communication will also be used.
In order to implement the OHS Amendment of 2018, the organization must clearly define the change and align it with the goals of the organization(Borovnik, 2011). This will ensure that the change does not hinder the organization from achieving its objectives.
All the workers must then be informed of the changes.The workers are an important party to the changes and hence they it is important to communicate to them the change and the need for change (Burke,Clarke& Cooper, 2012). This will help them to prepare psychologically for the changes about to come. The management of the organizational will also be briefed of the change in order to prepare for the change adequately before implementation begins.
After one month, the employees will be called upon to elect their representative to the HS committee. Election will be conducted through secret ballot. After election has been conducted, the committee representative will attend a one week training section to prepare them for their new roles.All tools required for the new roles will be procured.
|
Activity |
Start |
End |
|
Defining change and aligning to organizational goals |
1-11-2018 |
30-11-2018 |
|
Communication of change |
1-12-2018 |
6-12-2018 |
|
Election of representatives |
15-12-2018 |
15-12-2018 |
|
Training |
17-12-2018 |
23-12-2018 |
|
Beginning of work |
01-01-2018 |
The change will implemented within six months.
|
Amount ($) |
|
|
Teaching materials |
120 |
|
Hall rent |
760 |
|
Food and refreshment |
300 |
|
Allowances for trainers |
470 |
|
Cost of monthly meeting |
270 |
|
Total Budget |
1920 |
The positive behavior I will be observing from employees includes; increased adherence to safety and health guidelines, increased contribution and participation of employees in improving working conditions, increased use of safety gear and equipment while at the work site (Al & Abu Dhabi University, 2017). The other behaviors include workers becoming more motivated when performing their duties and commitment to holding regular meetings to address health and safety issues.
Resistance to change will be reduced by training all the workers on the need for change (Tompa Culyer & Dolinschi, 2008). Workers will be informed of the benefits of the amendments of the OHS Act. Involving employees in the change process will also help in reducing resistance to change.
To support the amendment of the Act one of the metrics that will be used is the reduction in the number of accidents at the work site. The other metric is increased involvement of employees in designing health and safety policies.
References
Al, A. A. A. B., & Abu Dhabi University. (2017). Managing organizational change in the UAE: A study of selected organizations.
Borovnik, M. (2011). Occupational health and safety of merchant seafarers from Kiribati and Tuvalu. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 52(3), 333-346. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2011.01459.x
Burke, R. J., Clarke, S., & Cooper, C. L. (2012). Occupational Health and Safety. Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Campbell, H. (2014). Managing Organizational Change: A Practical Toolkit for Leaders. London: Kogan Page.
Jabri, M. (2017). Managing Organizational Change: Process, Social Construction and Dialogue.
Koirala, J. (2015). Importance of Managing Employee’s Attitudes for Organizational Change and Development. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2601710
Little, J. (2014). Lean change management: Innovative practices for managing organizational change.
Maguire, M. (2007). Managing organizational change for BMW in the emerging Chinese market. Mu?nchen: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
Mattiske, C. (2011). Managing organizational change: Tools to help your team through change.
Mattingly, L. C. (2018). Managing Organizational Change: The Measurable Benefits of Applied iOCM. New York: Business Expert Press.
Ribeiro, M. G. (2014). Frontiers in Occupational Health and Safety. Sharjah: Bentham Science Publishers.
Skyberg, K. (2011). Congratulations on the new occupational health journal. International Journal Of Occupational Safety And Health, 1(1). doi: 10.3126/ijosh.v1i1.5225
Tompa, E., Culyer, A. J., & Dolinschi, R. (2008). Economic evaluation of interventions for occupational health and safety: Developing good practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Implementing Amendments To The Occupational Health And Safety Act: A Human Resource Practitioner’s Guide
- December 21, 2023/ Uncategorized
Implementing the Amended Change
This paper discusses the impact of the change in an organizational context. Organizational change has a huge impact across all areas. Change within an organization has the biggest impact on employees working in the organization. This paper discusses the change of employee reduction that happened in an organization I was working for immediately I completed college. The paper explains the positive and negative effect the change had on me. The paper also discusses the resistance that the change experienced during implementation and when employees heard of the change. Additionally, the paper discusses the amended Organizational Health and Safety Act and how the amendments will be implemented in an organization.
I completed college, and I got my first job just three months later. The job was well paying, and the organizational had a global reputation with operations in more than 100 countries in the world. The company had a very good remuneration scheme, and the welfare of employees was highly regarded. After one year in the Job, the company announced it would sell some brands of the company and hence result in retrenchment of employees. The change would also result in the reorganization of the organization. The change impacted me positively in that I was determined to work hard more and become the best so that I could be retained by the company. I was also positive since I saw this as an opportunity to get promotion when reorganization occurs. Despite the positive thinking I had about the change, I was also resistance since the future was so uncertain and I wasn’t sure whether my input to the organization was needed any more. I was also resistant to the change since I felt that the change may affect my supervisors and other members of middle level management who had mentored me since I joined the company.
The occupational Health and Safety Act is an Act of parliament that seeks to protect the rights of employees in order to guarantee safe and healthy working conditions. The Act sets laws and provides guidance on the working standards and regulations in every organization. The Occupational Health and Safety Act was amended in the year 2018 and the changes touched on Workplace Harassment and violence, obligations of work parties, reporting of incidents as well as Worksite health and Safety committees and representatives (Mattingly, 2018).
The Joint Worksite health and safety committee(HSC) are a group of employees and employer representatives who work together to identify and solve concerns that are related to health and safety at the workplace (Jabri, 2017). Health and Safety representatives also promote awareness among employees and promote the interest of employees on matters of health and safety. The changes to the Act requires that when twenty or more workers are at a work site, and work is expected to last for more than 90 days, the employer must establish an HSC (Little, 2014). When a work site has between five to nineteen employees expected to work for more than ninety days, the employer should ensure that employees choose their HS representatives (Ribeiro, 2014). The changes to the Act requires that employers must:
- Provide enough resources, training and time to ensure that HS committee members are effective in their duties
- Plan and hold meetings and carry out duties during the usual working hours
- Print and pin names and contacts of committee representatives where workers can see
Communicating the Change
The Act also establishes that the workers choose HS committee members unless the workers union states otherwise (Skyberg, 2011). The employer must meet the representatives regularly to discuss issues relating to health and safety as well as agree on how regular meetings should be held. According to the Act, if the work site has more than one employer, the prime contractor is responsible for establishing Health and Safety Committees.
The OHSA amendment also establishes that the HS committee must comprise at least four members. Half of these must be employees. Each Health and Safety Committee must have at least two co-chairpersons. The representatives and co-chairs should be selected by the employees and should serve for a term of not less than one year. The employer representative and the co-chair are appointed by the employer.
The OHSA amendment requires that the employer or main contractor must train HS representatives in order to equip them with the skills and knowledge that will help them to function effectively. Committee members and representatives must be given 16 hours to attend health training programs and seminars.
The amendment of the OHS act will help in reducing accidents in work sites. This is because, the Act will ensure that workers have adequate representation in the health committee and hence ensure that any events that are likely to cause accidents are detected on time and precautions taken (Campbell, 2014). The committee will help to identify hazards at the workplace with the help of employees who are directly involved in conducting the task.
Another advantage of the Act is that it requires that the employer provides adequate resources and time to help the committee perform its task (Mattingly, 2018). This means that committee members wont be so much involved in regular tasks at the work site and hence will get time to concentrate on matters of health and safety of workers.
The amendment is also important since it establishes that the employer should offer training to committee members. This ensures that the committee is effective when performing its functions since the members will have the right set of skills and knowledge to perform their duties.(Koirala, 2015)
The committee will also have a voice in deciding the number of times the committee should meet in a month as well as carrying out regular workplace inspections in order to ensure the right of every worker are adequately represented.
One disadvantage of the amendment is that the HS committee might turn into a workers union. This is because, the committee will be very powerful in decision making on matters of health and safety and hence it might become so political and hence interfere in normal running of the organization (Mattiske, 2011). The employee representatives may incite workers to sabotage work when they deem it unsafe or unhealthy and hence jeopardizing the function of the organization.
Positive Behaviors to be Observed in Employees
Another disadvantage of the amendment is that it requires the representatives to be accorded time for training and performing their committee duties. The representatives might spend too much time on health and safety issues and may therefore abandon their main role in the organization. This may lead to decline in performance.
- Implementing change at the workplace
Training sections will be organized after end of working hours to inform and educate workers on the amendments and the likely impact they are likely to have on them (Maguire, 2007). The amendments will also be published and placed in various notice boards within the work sites. Additionally, workers will receive emails with clear details of the amendment. Social media communication will also be used.
In order to implement the OHS Amendment of 2018, the organization must clearly define the change and align it with the goals of the organization(Borovnik, 2011). This will ensure that the change does not hinder the organization from achieving its objectives.
All the workers must then be informed of the changes.The workers are an important party to the changes and hence they it is important to communicate to them the change and the need for change (Burke,Clarke& Cooper, 2012). This will help them to prepare psychologically for the changes about to come. The management of the organizational will also be briefed of the change in order to prepare for the change adequately before implementation begins.
After one month, the employees will be called upon to elect their representative to the HS committee. Election will be conducted through secret ballot. After election has been conducted, the committee representative will attend a one week training section to prepare them for their new roles.All tools required for the new roles will be procured.
|
Activity |
Start |
End |
|
Defining change and aligning to organizational goals |
1-11-2018 |
30-11-2018 |
|
Communication of change |
1-12-2018 |
6-12-2018 |
|
Election of representatives |
15-12-2018 |
15-12-2018 |
|
Training |
17-12-2018 |
23-12-2018 |
|
Beginning of work |
01-01-2018 |
The change will implemented within six months.
|
Amount ($) |
|
|
Teaching materials |
120 |
|
Hall rent |
760 |
|
Food and refreshment |
300 |
|
Allowances for trainers |
470 |
|
Cost of monthly meeting |
270 |
|
Total Budget |
1920 |
The positive behavior I will be observing from employees includes; increased adherence to safety and health guidelines, increased contribution and participation of employees in improving working conditions, increased use of safety gear and equipment while at the work site (Al & Abu Dhabi University, 2017). The other behaviors include workers becoming more motivated when performing their duties and commitment to holding regular meetings to address health and safety issues.
Resistance to change will be reduced by training all the workers on the need for change (Tompa Culyer & Dolinschi, 2008). Workers will be informed of the benefits of the amendments of the OHS Act. Involving employees in the change process will also help in reducing resistance to change.
To support the amendment of the Act one of the metrics that will be used is the reduction in the number of accidents at the work site. The other metric is increased involvement of employees in designing health and safety policies.
References
Al, A. A. A. B., & Abu Dhabi University. (2017). Managing organizational change in the UAE: A study of selected organizations.
Borovnik, M. (2011). Occupational health and safety of merchant seafarers from Kiribati and Tuvalu. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 52(3), 333-346. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2011.01459.x
Burke, R. J., Clarke, S., & Cooper, C. L. (2012). Occupational Health and Safety. Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Campbell, H. (2014). Managing Organizational Change: A Practical Toolkit for Leaders. London: Kogan Page.
Jabri, M. (2017). Managing Organizational Change: Process, Social Construction and Dialogue.
Koirala, J. (2015). Importance of Managing Employee’s Attitudes for Organizational Change and Development. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2601710
Little, J. (2014). Lean change management: Innovative practices for managing organizational change.
Maguire, M. (2007). Managing organizational change for BMW in the emerging Chinese market. Mu?nchen: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
Mattiske, C. (2011). Managing organizational change: Tools to help your team through change.
Mattingly, L. C. (2018). Managing Organizational Change: The Measurable Benefits of Applied iOCM. New York: Business Expert Press.
Ribeiro, M. G. (2014). Frontiers in Occupational Health and Safety. Sharjah: Bentham Science Publishers.
Skyberg, K. (2011). Congratulations on the new occupational health journal. International Journal Of Occupational Safety And Health, 1(1). doi: 10.3126/ijosh.v1i1.5225
Tompa, E., Culyer, A. J., & Dolinschi, R. (2008). Economic evaluation of interventions for occupational health and safety: Developing good practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
