Citation

Jain A, Zwetsloot G, Torres L. Safety Sci. 2024; 174: e106463.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ssci.2024.106463

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Taking care of the workforce and developing its capacity (mentally, physically, socially, etc.) has strategic importance for organizations and society alike, and an active healthy workforce is therefore a key determinant to sustainable economic and human development (González-Cantón et al., 2019). Safe and good quality jobs, secure and fair employment and decent working conditions and protection from occupational hazards are important for protecting and promoting the health, safety and wellbeing (HSW) of the workforce (Benach et al., 2013), particularly in the context of the rapid transformations in the world of work as highlighted by the Global Commission on the Future of Work (ILO, 2019). Major developments over the past two decades have given special attention to the concept of ‘sustainability’, and the integral role of HSW in sustainable development (Jain et al., 2018, OSHA, 2016). For enterprises, sustainability refers to the potential for maintenance of business success over the long term, while for workers, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of HSW, the two conditions being inextricably connected. There is increasing evidence which, on the one hand, clearly highlights the economic threat posed by poor employment and working conditions, and on the other hand, indicates the superior market performance of enterprises which nurture a prevention culture of HSW (with HSW as a core value, not only a priority) and incorporate social concerns in their sustainability efforts (Zwetsloot et al., 2013). It is clear that sustainable work and HSW are integral to organizational and economic sustainability, and at the core of societal functioning and development.

For every individual to be provided with a working environment that is safe and does not harm their physical or mental health is an essential part of an employers’ as well as the State’s responsibility (UNDP, 2015). At the level of the enterprise, it is widely understood and accepted by all stakeholders that employers share the responsibility of promoting and managing the HSW of their workers. Evidence indicates that most employers put in place procedures and measures to manage workers’ HSW and create healthy and safe workplaces to meet legal requirements, to avoid liabilities, as a response to requests by employees, as a need to improve company image/reputation, and to improve productivity. This highlights that in addition to legal requirements, the key drivers for companies also include the ethical and business case (Jain et al., 2018). The State is responsible for the design, implementation and enforcement of HSW regulations and policies. Regulatory health and safety policies at the international as well at the national level outline the minimum requirements for health and safety protection and promotion at the workplace that must be adopted by enterprises (Bronstein, 2009). Legal requirements for safety and health in the supply chain are in development (EC, 2022) or already in place (e.g. in Germany).

A regulatory approach is effective where an adequate enforcement framework is available to effectively translate policy into practice (OECD, 2014). However, given the challenges in enforcement of legislation (Senior Labour Inspectors Committee, 2015), it is necessary not only to rely on regulation, but also implement supplementary strategies to protect and promote workers’ health, safety and well-being. These include strategies such as the use of integrative policy approaches including a rights’ based approach, and as well as the use of voluntary standards by enterprises, such as occupational safety and health management systems and business responsibility/sustainability approaches, which are linked to the business case and ethical case for promoting workers’ HSW. ...

Language: en