Occupational Accidents and Work-Related Diseases

Are you an employer of labour?

Do you think prevention is cost-effective?

Let us find out!

Prevention cost represents an organization’s active efforts to mitigate problems before they occur and turn them into opportunities and should be considered an investment (Hughes & Willis, 1995).

It is connected with the necessity to assure workers’ safety and health protection to a degree adequate to the requirements of the legal regulations in force (Pawlowska & Rzepecki, 2000).

ILO statistics:

According to the ILO, approximately 2.78 million people die yearly from work-related diseases and occupational accidents. The figure mentioned above is estimated to be low due to poor record-keeping and reporting in most developing countries. Nevertheless, however, one looks at it, this number is enormous. Perhaps, necessary preventive measures could have prevented the deaths.

The ILO also reports, “Men in developing countries tend to die due to accidents, lung diseases, and work-related cancers such as those caused by asbestos. On the other hand, the women in developing countries suffer more from musculoskeletal disorders, infectious diseases, and psychosocial problems.”

Therefore, prevention is cost-effective because accidents are incredibly costly and severely affect organizations, workers, and their families.

Prevention is ethical and a legal requirement Click To Tweet

Every working environment significantly impacts how workers feel about their workplace, how they perceive their value, and their general physical, psychological and psychosocial health.

OSH Convention (C155) of 1981 and its supporting recommendation (R164) laid the foundations for a national and enterprise-level policy and strategy for implementing OSH preventive and protective measures which apply to economic activity and all workers. This convention aims to ensure that workers have decent, safe, and healthy working conditions to minimize or mitigate work-related accidents, injuries, and hazards inherent in the working environment.

This clearly shows that it is ethically right and a legal requirement for employers to ensure a safe and healthy workplace. Indeed most organizations are limited on resources, and costs are an essential factor always to be considered; however, prevention costs can prevent occupational accidents, decrease employer’s costs, and invariably, increase employer’s profit. This is because safety in the workplace promotes organizational performance, reduces staff turnover, and encourages lower staff absence due to sickness. All these can lead to significant cost savings.

Practical example
During the pandemic, many workers contracted SARS-CoV-2 at work. Insurance companies had to pay huge sums of compensation to the workers.

Their employers could have averted this with specific administrative controls. Such as; enhancing awareness, training, promoting hygienic practices, supervision, work, and workplace redesign. Although such controls have many limitations because the hazard would still be present and not completely removed. Some also can be challenging to implement and maintain. However, it would have gone a long way to protect those workers against the risk of exposure.