Safety and Agency Responsibility

Safety and Agency Responsibility

The overall productivity of any organization is dependent on the optimal functionality of its members. Optimal functionality, however, is informed by the individual health of the organization members. Every organization is required to develop a framework in which the safety and health of each of its members are ensured and assured. Individual responsibility towards safety and health maintenance is also key as most workdays are lost due to factors beyond the scope of organizational safety frameworks (Zelnick et al., 2013). Factors such as individuals’ mental disorientation, workplace violence, and occupational hazards have resulted in significant lost work hours and consequent reduction in overall productivity. This paper seeks to discuss safety enhancement within organizations with an emphasis on workplace emergencies and safety concerns for organizational employees. Hire our assignment writing services in case your assignment is devastating you.

Many types of traumatic situations occur in workplaces and have often jeopardized individual or group functionalities. These events may be attributable to the employees themselves, organizational infrastructure, and natural disasters. They include but are not limited to physical assault, verbal threats, natural disasters such as fires and floods, ethnic harassment, and stalking (Zelnick et al., 2013). A concrete safety framework is necessary for the prevention of these events and to address these situations whenever they arise. Various strategies have been utilized in the prevention and resolution of traumatic situations within workplaces. These include the development, enforcement, and maintenance of zero-tolerance policies within workplaces, the establishment of a positive work culture within the organization, ensuring and enhancing employee awareness of incivility and workplace violence, and providing education on conflict resolution.

Zero-tolerance policies are targeted at reducing major and minor workplace offenses. This policy aims to quell any form of violence or civility by aggressive enforcement of law and order. Zero-tolerance policies have been implicated in drastic reductions in workplace violence and the overall establishment of order. Positive work culture details the inculcation of the moral virtue of respect, the establishment of an individual’s responsibility towards safety maintenance, and the individual’s ability to adhere to the organization’s philosophies (Tartaglia, 2019). These components are key in ensuring order and ultimate prevention of traumatic situations.

Staff awareness of the organizational position towards order and policies on workplace violence is also important. This can be ensured by frequent updates on these policy provisions as well as by communicating them to the members via written and print media. Educating the members on the significance of the order and the basics of conflict resolution is also key. Educational pieces should be fundamental components of an organization’s orientation programs for all new employees and could also be incorporated into the organization’s continuous education programs (McCright et al., 2019). All these factors have dual benefits in the instant resolution of various traumatic events that occur in workplaces and the long-term address of these factors.

Long-term effects of workplace events can also be resolved by the utilization of several strategies. These strategies include the establishment of organizational support systems that are targeted at encouraging organizational members, supporting their self-care initiatives, offering stress and fatigue reduction measures to members, and training their members to be resilient (McCright et al., 2019). These measures should be targeted at members who have experienced workplace violence as well as those who haven’t to equip them with coping strategies in the event such unfortunate circumstances befall them.

Additionally, the organization should offer continuous support to victims of workplace violence. This support could either be in the form of psychosocial support or, in some instances, monetary. Psychosocial support often involves counseling and has been implicated in better mental health attainment and maintenance (Gühne et al., 2020). Monetary support could be in the form of compensation either from the organization or from the culprits of the workplace violence in question. Monetary support has also been implicated in improved living standards for victims of workplace violence. All these measures ensure the resolution of the long-term effects of various workplace violence.

Safety assurance is key to an organization’s overall productivity. Organizations should, therefore, establish a framework to which the safety of their employees is ensured. Various traumatic events have been implicated in lost working days and an overall reduction in productivity. These events include physical assault, workplace fire, and verbal threats, among others. These issues can adequately be addressed by developing zero-tolerance policies, developing a positive culture, and educating members on the significance of order and conflict resolution strategies.

References

Gühne, U., Weinmann, S., Riedel-Heller, S., & Becker, T. (2020). Psychosocial therapies in severe mental illness: update on evidence and recommendations. Current Opinion In Psychiatry, 33(4), 414-421. https://doi.org/10.1097/yco.0000000000000618

McCright, M., Blair, M., Applegate, B., Griggs, P., Backus, M., & Pabico, C. (2019). Addressing workplace violence with the Pathway to Excellence® framework. Nursing Management, 50(8), 10-13. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.numa.0000558480.62072.24

Tartaglia, A. (2019). “Zero Tolerance” for disruptive health work behaviors. Einstein (São Paulo), 17(4). https://doi.org/10.31744/einstein_journal/2019ce5306

Zelnick, J., Slayter, E., Flanzbaum, B., Butler, N., Domingo, B., Perlstein, J., & Trust, C. (2013). Part of the Job? Workplace Violence in Massachusetts Social Service Agencies. Health & Social Work, 38(2), 75-85. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlt007

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When you walk into a human services organization, do you think about your safety? What about when you prepare to make a home visit or attend a meeting in the community? As a social worker, you may find yourself in situations in which your personal safety is at risk. Although you, as an administrator, cannot prepare for every situation, you should be proactive and put a plan into place to address issues related to workplace violence in the event that it occurs.

For this Assignment, focus on the Zelnick et al. article on workplace violence and consider what plan you might want to have in place if you were an administrator having to address a similar workplace violence situation.

Assignment (2–3 pages in APA format):

Draft a plan for a human services organization explaining how to address traumatic emergency situations. Include both how to respond to the emergency and how to address any long-term effects. Finally, based on this week�s resources and your personal experiences, explain your greatest concern about the safety of mental health professionals working in a human services organization.

Weekly reading resources:
https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlt007

Northouse, P. G. (2021). Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Sage.

Review Chapter 10, “Listening to Out-Group Members” (pp. 252-275)
Chapter 11, “Managing Conflict” (pp. 277-306)
Chapter 13, “Overcoming Obstacles” (pp. 337-357)