In the worst-case scenarios, office employees may be exposed to life threatening situations.

While office workers are at lower risk of workplace injuries than workers engaged in physical labour, it is vital not to under estimate the risks they face. Office environments can seem intrinsically safe, compared to high risk locations like oil fields or construction sites. Workplace Safety: Awareness, Culture, Processes & Practices Workplace happiness, and employee wellness depend on many of the same conditions required for OSH, such as safety, health and comfort. Numerous studies have shown the link between employee health and wellness, and business productivity. We have discussed previously the importance of integrating employee happiness and well-being into office fit-out and working practices. Office workers are more likely to face psychosocial risks, work-related stress and non-communicable diseases such as circulatory and respiratory illness and cancers than workers in other sectors. We need safety and health structures that reflect this, alongside a general culture of prevention that creates shared responsibility”. “As well as more effective prevention for established risks, we are seeing profound changes in our places and ways of working. “ Stress, excessively-long working hours and disease, contribute to the deaths of nearly 2.8 million workers every year, while an additional 374 million people get injured or fall ill because of their jobs. “ Ĭommenting on this, Manal Azzi, ILO Technical Specialist on Occupational Safety and Health has stated that:

Image Credit: International Labour Organization

Office safety tip of the day