What is the purpose of the occupational health and safety?

The main purpose of the Act is to protect workers from health and safety hazards on the job. It
sets out duties for all workplace parties and rights for workers. It establishes procedures for
dealing with workplace hazards and provides for enforcement of the law where compliance has
not been achieved voluntarily.

The Importance of Health and Safety in the

Workplace

In the workplace, health and safety regulations are paramount to the well-being of the employees
and the employer. Many hazards are present in today's work environments, and it's the
employer's job to keep their employees safe from these hazards. It's a job that is so important that
there are occupational safety standards and regulations set by the US Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA).

OSHA ensures that all of their guidelines for health and safety or followed and anyone in
violation can have their business shutdown. However, this is just one reason why workplace
health and safety standards are important. Below are a few more that will show you just how
important these standards are.

Prevent Illness and Injury

Health and safety procedures in the workplace reduce the employee illnesses and injuries greatly.
These procedures can help you and your employees understand the potential hazards in your
work environment. Training is important and effective, as it will educate your employees on
proper workplace procedures, practices, and behavior to prevent possible injuries and illness or
contamination from improper hygiene. Truthfully, paying for work-related injuries and illnesses
can negatively affect your bottom line, which is a big reason why implementation of health and
safety procedures is necessary.

Reduces Health and Safety Hazards

Potential hazards are rampant in almost every workplace environment. Equipment, chemicals,
certain behaviors and activities, and even furniture can potentially cause injury or harm to you or
your workers. Health hazards can range from contamination of food due to unsafe handling or
preparation practices to an infectious disease outbreak caused by improper hygiene and personal
care.

If you work with certain dangerous chemicals or gases, there's always the risk of improper
handling, maintenance, or storage, which could lead to dangerous exposure for you and your
workers. In these cases, you must follow specific hazardous material handling guidelines set by
OSHA, and you must have emergency and evacuation plans in place.

Avoid Serious Consequences

OSHA is in charge of enforcing health and safety laws, which means you must follow their
guidelines when creating your health and safety procedures. If your work environment isn't safe
for your employees, then you may receive a fine or have your business temporarily or
permanently shutdown, depending on the magnitude of your violation. This is something many
businesses can't afford. These standards can be enforced by any person representing OSHA
many who will now be obtaining an occupational health and safety online degree. If you don't
meet health and safety standards, then your company will lose business, money, and customers.

Violating or not have safety and health procedures in place can have a tremendous impact on
your business. You could lose money, workers, clients, productivity, vendors, respect, and
potentially your entire business. Although, Workers' Compensation Insurance covers workplace
injuries and illnesses, there could be more costs to pay if you're negligent. These costs include
clean-up and repair, claims management, accident investigation, litigation, and the hiring and
training of new employees. However, much of this can be avoided if you just realize the
importance of having a health and safety program, and implementing it into your company's
infrastructure.