Explaining workers’ resistance against a health and safety programme: An understanding based on hierarchical and social accountability

PurposeThis study aims to critically evaluate the COVID-19 and future post-COVID-19 impacts on office design, location and functioning with respect to government and community occupational health and safety expectations. It aims to assess how office efficiency and cost control agendas intersect with corporate social accountability.Design/methodology/approachTheoretically informed by governmentality and social accountability through action, it thematically examines research literature and Web-based professional and business reports. It undertakes a timely analysis of historical office trends and emerging practice discourse during the COVID-19 global pandemic's early phase.FindingsCOVID-19 has induced a transition to teleworking, impending office design and configuration reversals and office working protocol re-engineering. Management strategies reflect prioritisation choices between occupational health and safety versus financial returns. Beyond formal accountability reports, office management strategy and rationales will become physically observable and accountable to office staff and other parties.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research must determine the balance of office change strategies employed and their evident focus on occupational health and safety or cost control and financial returns. Further investigation can reveal the relationship between formal reporting and observed activities.Practical implicationsOrganisations face strategic decisions concerning both their balancing of employee and public health and safety against capital expenditure and operation cost commitments to COVID-19 transmission prevention. They also face strategic accountability decisions as to the visibility and correspondence between their observable actions and their formal social responsibility reporting.Social implicationsOrganisations have continued scientific management office cost reduction strategies under the guise of innovative office designs. This historic trend will be tested by a pandemic, which calls for control of its spread, including radical changes to the office at potentially significant cost.Originality/valueThis paper presents one of few office studies in the accounting research literature, recognising it as central to contemporary organisational functioning and revealing the office cost control tradition as a challenge for employee and community health and safety.

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An occupational health and safety programme for crop farm workers in the Mangaung municipal district, Free State

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development ◽

10.1504/ijesd.2009.023709 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 10

Author(s):

Carien Weyers

Keyword(s):

Occupational Health ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Occupational Health And Safety ◽

Farm Workers ◽

Free State ◽

Municipal District ◽

Safety Programme

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Perceptions of health workers regarding the occupational health services rendered at Onandjokwe hospital, Namibia

Journal of Hospital Administration ◽

10.5430/jha.v4n6p1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 4 (6) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Amukugo HJ ◽

Amakali K ◽

Sipa K

Keyword(s):

Occupational Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Quantitative Data ◽

Qualitative Methodology ◽

Health Workers ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Occupational Health Services ◽

Daily Work ◽

Objective Health ◽

Safety Programme

Objective: Health care workers are exposed to a variety of health hazards in their daily work. This exposure puts them at risk of acquiring occupational related diseases, including psychological stress, which can lead to mental illness, absenteeism and job dissatisfaction. In view of the potential risks and occupational hazard, a comprehensive health and safety programme for all employees is mandatory to minimize injury among the employees and therefore for the institution to fully harness the potential of its employees. The programme should indicate management goals, objectives and policy implementation, as well as responsibility and accountability for each role player. The aim of this study was to determine the challenges facing health workers regarding the occupational health services (OHS) at Onandjokwe Hospital in Northern Namibia. The objectives of the study were to determine the existing situation relating to the OHS rendered at Onandjokwe Hospital and to explore and describe the perceptions of health workers regarding OHS at the hospital.Methods: The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methodology that included the use of a checklist for collection of quantitative data on evidences of practice of OHS in different departments of the hospital; interviews and focus group discussions for collection of the data on the workers’ perception on OHS in the hospital. Epi-info software version 3.5.1 was used to analyses the quantitative data while Tech’s method of qualitative analysis was used for the qualitative data.Results: The study revealed that the provision of OHS in the hospital was extremely limited. Many key documents guiding the provision of effective OHS were found to be lacking in several hospital departments. Limited training had been conducted and as a result, there was low awareness on OHS among the employees in the hospital. Both management and staff cited lack of key personnel to drive the process as an important impediment to strengthening OHS in the hospital.Conclusions: The main recommendations that arose from the research include the need for the hospital management to comply with the guidelines on Occupational health, acquire and avail key guiding documents for occupational health practice in all the departments; provision of necessary resources for OHS including OHS staff and implementation of OHS programme to safeguard the health of the employees.

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