The real cost of health – occupational health and safety system
3rd July 2009 by Richard Gunawan
Most companies seem to focus on the measurable aspects of an occupational health and safety system (OHS). This means they rely on LTIs, incident reports, accident reports or other such tangible measures.
Companies may overlook the health of their employees and its impact on the organisation in this process. While the consequence of an injury is high – directors and management may be prosecuted for neglience in some countries like Australia and Singapore, health and wellbeing is equally important to the success of the organisation.
Sally Radcliffe,AMCOR Australia’s Divisional OH&S Manager says, ‘We are dealing with an ageing population and this will have an implication on our workforce. Healthy employees will be more productive and are less likely to fall sick or take sick leave. It makes economic sense for AMCOR to look after our employees and their health.’ AMCOR is one of the largest packaging companies in the world and has provided employees with subsidised gym membership and health monitoring services in order to take more active interest in their health.
Mary Kalantzis, the Managing Director of The Hearing Space says that companies should look beyond safety and adopt best practice in managing the health of their employees. Mary who trained in Denmark, is one of the most respected audiologists in Australia. She says that hearing is often not accorded priority; yet according to Access Economics, the financial cost of hearing loss is over A$11.5 billion per annum.
As an example; an investment bank was instructed by a major international institution to buy 50,000 BHP shares, but the order was executed to buy 50,000 BNP shares. Consider the impact of a misheard sales order where ‘fifty’ can be interpreted as ‘fifteen’. An employee with hearing loss who mishears and makes mistakes may experience anxiety, depression, stress, emotional instability and this may have an impact on his/her productivity.
Typically, males tend to neglect their health more than women. Most boards of management and manufacturing operations are run predominantly by men and this is still applicable in some Asian countries such as Japan and China. According to Men’s Health in the UK, men have a shorter life expectancy at birth (74.6 years) compared to women (80.8 years).
Adam Garone, the CEO of Movember, an international foundation which operates in Australia, the US and the EU to promote awareness around men’s health issues says, ‘From a young age, women tend to look after their health and beauty better than men. In contrast, men seem to adopt the attitude of ‘I am alright’ and pay less attention to their health’. They are less likely to see a doctor about an illness or go in for regular check-ups.
Adam says, ‘Every year 2,900 Australian men die of prostate cancer – equivalent to the number of women who die of breast cancer. Furthermore, one in six men suffer from depression at any given time but most don’t seek help’. Depression can contribute to workplace aggression, loss of motivation and decreased productivity.
Poor health may seem like a minor inconvenience for many organisations when the individual takes sick leave. However, the impact of illness and lost time can result in slower project completion and penalties associated with the delay in completion. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the organisation to invest in the health and well being of its employees. Neglecting this could well mean lower morale, higher attrition rate and the recurring costs of recruitment and training.
Other References:
http://www.jmhjournal.org/home
Richard Gunawan is Vice President for business and sustainability development for LRQA Asia. He has more than 15 years of commercial experience and is committed to assisting businesses in Asia to mitigate risks and to grow in line with CSR principles. Richard has an MBA and was educated in Australia. He also has spent more [...]