Fundamentals of occupational safety and health - Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Fundamentals of occupational safety and health. Answer: Introduction Language proficiency is very important in the matter of WSH. In the times of emergency in the occupational safety, if people cannot understand each others language, it may bring fatal consequences (Sawir et al. 2012). English is the global language and as the instances of occupational migration have been increasing at a very rapid rate, the need to have a common language is increasing also. This research paper intends to find out the impact of the English language on the workplace safety and health. The researcher will be conducting a survey on the employees of five reputed companies of Singapore to get an idea about the implications of the topic of the research. This chapter is the introductory chapter that aims to introduce the topic of the research study to the readers. The aim and objective of the study, background study, research questions and hypothesis and research rationale are presented in this chapter. Background study of the research WSH is often referred to as occupational health and safety. This is concerned with the assessment and mitigation of the risks and hazards associated with the health and safety of the people in the workplace (Murray 2013). This includes the welfare, health and safety of the customers or visitors as well along with that of the employees, contractors, suppliers and volunteers. The government sets many laws regarding the workplace safety and health (WSH) issues and any business owner, be government or private, must comply with those WSH principles and regulations as a mandatory requirement while conducting the business. The employees are also expected to know those policies very well while working in an organization. In the era of globalization, the instances of employee migration have increased significantly. The skilled as well as unskilled workers are migrating from their home county to another for better career growth and higher salary (Vertovec 2015). Singapore has also seen a rapid increase in the migrated workers in the last few decades. Skilled and unskilled workers from various parts of the world have migrated to Singapore and they have a vast difference in their culture and languages. Many of these workers as well as many citizens of Singapore are not proficient in English language. However, almost all the organizations maintain English as their official language and some also keep Mandarin and Chinese as another official language. The rules and regulations and the policies are often drafted in English. It is found that, the natives, who do not have proficiency in English language, sometimes face challenges to understand the policies and often they skip the effort to understand those (B ai, Hu and Gu 2014). These create problems in the working system, especially in case of WSH issues. This research paper aims to evaluate the impact of knowledge and proficiency of English language that helps to understand and follow the WSH policies in the Singaporean organizations. Research aim The aim of the research study is to find out the impact of the knowledge and proficiency of English language on the WSH. As English is the global language, it is expected that the migrated workforce in any country are proficient in English, if not in the local and regional language. Hence, the extent of impact that the language proficiency can have on the occupational health and safety is the subject matter of this research paper. Research objectives The objectives of this research paper are as follows. To evaluate the impact of knowledge on the English language on the workplace environment in terms of WSH issues To identify the effectiveness of English language proficiency in understanding the WSH principles of an organization To evaluate if the people who are either bilingual or proficient in the English language have an advantage over the people who speak other languages during the implementation of the WSH policies and principles. Research questions The research questions for this research study are: What is the impact of having knowledge in English language on the work environment in terms of WSH issues? How much the proficiency in English language is effective for understanding the WSH policies of an organization? Do the people, with knowledge or proficiency in English, have an advantage over the people speaking other languages while understanding and implementing Research rationale Research rationale depicts the logic behind conducting the research study. The researcher aims to address the gap in the previous literatures and research studies that have been conducted on the similar topic or subject. Various researches have been conducted earlier by other scholars that addressed various aspects of occupational health and safety. Through this research study, the relation between the English language proficiency and how it helps in better understanding and implementing the policies and regulations on WSH will be explored. Knowledge and proficiency in English can help employees enormously when it comes to understanding the WSH requirements written in English and therefore being able to adhere to the regulations. The topic has been so chosen because it constitutes a major problem in the health and safety regulations overall. In the current world, every country has some workforce who is from another country (Knoch et al. 2015). This makes it inevitable that communication gaps would be present. While it is not at all easy to ensure that every person knows the language of every other person, English could serve as the bridge that could be sued by everyone so that every aspect is at least conveyed to each other. This alone could prove to be beneficial. Unless a proper communication is established, it is equally impossible to fully comprehend the regulations and country-specific WSH policies or what are the implications of the same (Murray and Hicks 2016). Structure of the research Chapter 1 of the research paper is the introduction. In this chapter the researcher introduces the research topic to the readers. The background study, research rationale, research aim, objectives, questions and hypothesis are presented in this chapter. In chapter 2, the researcher presents the literature review. To conduct this research study, the researcher studies various scholarly articles and online publications and presents the gained knowledge in this chapter to throw light on various aspects of the research topic. Chapter 3 presents the research methodology. The basic plan of the researcher to address the research questions will be presented in this chapter. The philosophy, approach, design and strategy of research, data collection and analysis process are address in chapter 3. Data analysis and its findings are discussed in chapter 4. The researcher will be collecting either primary or secondary data and will analyze it using either qualitative or quantitative method. The findings and their explanations in relation to the research topic will be discussed in this chapter. Chapter 5 is the conclusion. The researcher establishes the relation between the findings and research objectives to see that whether the research study could fulfill the research objectives. The researcher will also present some recommendations based on the study and limitations and future scope of research in this chapter. English as an international language English language has been able to spread across the globe quite rapidly and become the most popular and widely used international language. Almost all the industries and businesses around the globe use English as the official language, which has brought a change in the education system of countries. Being an easy language, people have easily adapted to English and that made the business world to function without much hitches. With the increasing level of globalization, the adoption of English has been increasing too. However, there are many nations, where English still could not capture the position of official language, but during any international transaction, they are bound to use the English language. English also works as a thread in integrating different cultures (Pennycook 2014). The existence of colonies helped in establishing the language in those regions and that had an impact on the culture of the people too. English language proficiency and implications in the workplace Language proficiency, often known as Linguistic proficiency is referred to the capability of an individual of speaking or performing in a language. It is assumed that an individual becomes proficient in his mother-tongue naturally. Years of schooling and education make a person proficient in other languages (Sentell and Braun 2012). As English is the most important language in the world at present, the parents of every child want English proficiency for their child. In the working environment also, having language proficiency is an added advantage. This helps an individual to communicate effectively and perform efficiently. As stated by Moslehifar and Ibrahim (2012), when an organization expands internationally and operates as a multinational company, it needs to hire people from different countries, based on the location of the offices and therefore, to have an integrated communication network, there must be a common language to be used for all official purposes. Hence, the demand o f English and English proficient people has become extremely high in the past few decades, especially after the economic liberalization and globalization (Sentell and Braun 2012). In many countries, English is the official language while in others, it is not. These countries have kept their regional language as the official language. However, English helps in internal and external communication in the multinational companies. Workplace Safety and Health WSH is a very important issue in the industrial as well as service sector across the world. This is sometimes termed as occupational safety and health measures. These measures are directly related to the physical wellbeing of the employees, which is dependent on the occupational hazards. There are numerous industries, where physical labor is the fundamental requirement. Hence, the organizations must take the responsibility of the safety of the employees while working for them. At the same time, the service sector also has to ensure the physical as well as mental health of the employees remain well, otherwise, they cannot deliver their maximum productivity (Friend and Kohn 2014). Thus, health and safety of the employees are one of the most important requirements, which need to be fulfilled by the organizations, as per the government rule. The clauses are set according to the nature of work of the organizations. They are responsible for designing the WSH policies, that must include wel l being clauses for physical and mental wellbeing of the employees and every employee should be aware of those clauses (Eeckelaert et al. 2012). Many companies have health and safety representatives, who represent the safety and health interests of the employees to the higher management . WSH measures are taken by the organizations to ensure a safe working environment to the employees. It is a responsibility of the organizations to make the employees feel safe and secured while working for them. Hence, WSH policies are made and distributed to the employees to make them aware about the policies. Mental as well as physical wellness of the employees is the concern of the organizations, as both are required to achieve the organizational goals (Consultaustralia.com.au 2016). As stated in a compliance code by WorkSafe Victoria (2014), the WSH discipline also includes the protection of safety and health matters of the stakeholders from exposure to the hazards and the risks arising from the work activities. These concerns have pushed the government of almost all countries to introduce WSH laws and regulations and made it mandatory for the organizations to strictly follow them. English proficiency and organizational policies As stated by Sato (2015), speaking in English has become a mandate in almost all global companies and the benefit brings global coverage and efficiency while the disadvantage is the resistance that arises from within the workforce who are unwilling to accept the imposed language. However, the organizations have to provide scope for the employees who do not have proficiency in English and hence, require assistance in languages other than English to understand the information of the policies, receive the training and participate in the program. They also need the scope for communicating in their own language. Although, it is extremely difficult for the organizations to provide assistance to the employees in any different languages, they solve this communication issue by translating the policies in any one common language other than English. However, it is evident that having proficiency or at least minimum knowledge in English is beneficial for not only the employees but also for the o rganization, as that ensures smooth and effective functioning of the organizations, saving much time that would have otherwise wasted in communicating the policy frameworks among the employees (Business.gov.au 2018). People with good knowledge in English can have a better understanding of the organizational policies and can implement those in a better, faster and efficient manner. Summary From literature review, it can be inferred that, researches have been undertaken on the importance of English proficiency in life as well as in the workplace, policies and implications of WSH and impact of English proficiency and its impact on organizational policies. From almost all the papers, it is observed that English has a profound importance in the workplace. Through this research, the researcher aims to find out the implications of English proficiency in understanding and efficiently implementing the WSH policies in the workplace. This topic was not addressed before by any scholar and hence, this topic was chosen for the research. Research philosophy The source and nature of the information directs the way to choose research philosophy. In this research, the researcher adopted the quantitative method of research, by applying appropriate statistical techniques on the primary data, collected from the employees of 5 construction companies in Singapore through a survey, and hence, the positivism philosophy was adopted. This philosophy deals with highly structured large samples for data collection and applying quantitative method of data analysis. Research approach Among the three major types of research approaches, namely, inductive, deductive and abductive, in the given research, the researcher adopted the deductive approach of research, as neither had he generated any new theory from the research nor he had to choose one potential solution from many. Rather he tested the research hypothesis, that is, the implications of the proficiency in English language on understanding the WSH policies on the basis of conventional theories on the related subjects. Research strategy In the words of Bryman (2015), research strategy is the framework that exhibits the plan of the researcher on how to proceed with the research study in the right direction to reach to a logical conclusion. The researcher chose the survey strategy to collect data on the research topic. Survey strategy is beneficial to get a first hand idea about the respondents perception about the research topic (Robson and McCartan 2016), as in this case, the employees of the construction companies of Singapore were asked for participating in the survey to provide an insight about the English language proficiency and its implications on the WSH policies. Research design Research design is mainly of two types, explanatory and exploratory. In the current research topic, the researcher applied the explanatory research design as the researcher aimed to explain the implications of the proficiency in the English language on the rules and regulations regarding the WSH issues in the construction companies of Singapore. Data collection process The researcher collected both the primary and secondary data to address the research questions. Primary data was collected through surveys on the employees of 5 construction companies of Singapore and secondary data was collected from various scholarly articles, books, online publications and peer-reviewed journals and was presented in the literature review and in the conclusion. The study was analytical in nature, with a primary focus on the knowledge on the English language and relating to the WSH norms to understand if the employees who do not speak very good English fare equally to those who do, or not. The survey questionnaire was designed in simple language and contained 10 close ended and easy to understand questions. It aimed to understand the participants depth in the knowledge of the language and their capabilities to communicate using the language. It was also observed whether they could properly understand the WSH policies and regulations. The questionnaire that was provided to them was helpful to get their answers on how they thought that they faced problems in the workplace. Whether they were good in communicating in English and, if not, did they believe that their lack of knowledge of English is in any way impacting the same. In order to conduct the survey, the researcher chose 10 employees each from 5 reputed construction companies of Singapore. The companies are as follows. KOH General Contractors Star Air Pte Ltd GKB Engineering Maple Interiors Pacific Asia Pte Ltd The survey was conducted to gather knowledge on the effectiveness of English language proficiency for understanding WSH policies. Google form was used for collecting the responses. The questionnaire contained total 10 close ended questions, first 3 out of those focused on individual details and the last 7 focused on subjective elements. Sampling method 50 participants across 5 different companies were surveyed upon, ten from each company. In order to conduct the survey, simple random sampling was used by the researcher. In simple random sampling, the samples have the equal probability of being chosen, and hence, reduce the biasness in the data. The answers was analysed accordingly to find any trend that suggests that WSH norms were compromised because of poor skills in English. Data analysis process The researcher analysed the collected data by using quantitative analysis method. Various as well as appropriate statistical functions were performed on the data to get the desired outcome. MS Excel was used for the data analysis. The survey responses were collected by using Likert scale and the responses were converted into numerical data for the statistical analysis. The secondary data was used for thematic analysis to provide supportive argument to the primary data analysis results. MS Excel was used to document the responses and performing statistical calculation, that is, correlation. Ethical consideration The responses of the participants must be classified and it must be ensured that no personal information is spread by any means (Yamao and Sekiguchi 2015). Some basic factors must be maintained during the study; such as making sure that the survey participants are not harmed in any way, and they must also be given full information about the survey beforehand so that those who are not comfortable with such a survey can be able to not partake in the same. The researcher followed the conditions for maintaining confidentiality of the personal information of the respondents by declaring the agreement on the survey questionnaire. Originality of the paper was strictly maintained by the researcher, as, plagiarism is a serious offence in the world of education and the researcher can be penalized if found guilty. Hence, proper citation of the sources of information was made throughout the paper. Summary To summarize the research methodology, it can be said that, the researcher chose positivism philosophy of research, followed by deductive research approach, explanatory research design and survey strategy of research. He collected primary data using simple random sampling and secondary data from various journals for the purpose of literature review. The data analysis was performed using quantitative method of analysis. The researcher used MS Excel to perform the data analysis. Correlation was performed to find out the relation among the factors required to test the hypotheses and the factors were chosen on the basis of the knowledge gained through literature review. Analytical findings and explanations Demographic elements Demographic elements are the individuals details that reflect the social and economic status of the individual. These elements also represent various individualistic characteristics that highlight the specific feature of the individual or respondents that are helpful in addressing the research topic. In this research study, the tenure in the company, language proficiency and educational qualification of the respondents are considered as demographic elements as these are relevant factors to address the research topic. Among the 50 respondents of the survey, 38% are associated with their respective companies for 2 to 5 years, 28% are for 6 months to 2 years, 18% respondents are working for more than 5 years and 16% are working for less than 6 months. Thus, it can be said that majority of the respondents have work experience of 5 years and below. 56% of the respondents are post graduate from the universities of Singapore and other countries. 26% hold graduation degree, 10% are pass outs of secondary schools, and 4% each hold diploma and vocational training. 74% of the respondents have said that they have proficiency in English language other than their own regional languages. 12% reported that they have proficiency in Mandarin only, 6% have expertise in Tamil, 4% have proficiency in Chinese, and 2% each has proficiency in Malay and Hindi. These 26% do not have proficiency in the English language. Subjective factors The subjective elements are the factors that specifically focus on the research topic. In this research study, the researcher selected 7 questions that particularly addressed the issue of English language proficiency and its relation with the WSH in the 5 construction companies of Singapore. Importance of WSH, importance of knowledge and proficiency of English language, its relation with better availability of WSH services, organizations preference for people with English proficiency and whether the organizations should give basic English language training to the employees are addressed in this section of the questionnaire. The responses are collected in the form of Likert scale values, 1 representing strongly disagree and 5 representing strongly agree. The analysis and findings are presented below. 50% of the respondents agreed and 42% strongly agreed that WSH is important in the workplace. 6% answered neutral and 2% disagreed. None of the respondents strongly disagreed to this question. Hence, it can be said that majority of the respondents believe that WSH issues are very important in any organization as that is closely related to the welfare of the employees. The advantages of WSH policies can be availed in the best possible manner only when the employees communicate and know about those. For that communication with the authority is important. 54% agreed and 30% strongly agreed to that. 12% answered neutral and 4% disagreed. 46% of the respondents agreed and 28% strongly agreed that they believe that they have good communication skills in English. 16% answered neutral, 6% disagreed and 4% strongly disagreed. Hence, majority of the respondents have reported that they have knowledge and proficiency in the English communication skills. Regarding the question on whether efficiency in the English language helps the employees in the workplace while understanding and availing the WSH services, 50% agreed and 28% strongly agreed. 12% responded neutral, 8% disagreed and 2% strongly disagreed to this question. Hence, it can be said that, a large section of the respondents believe that proficiency in English is beneficial in the matter of knowing, understanding and availing the WSH policies and services in any organization. 44% of the respondents agreed and 28% strongly agreed that better knowledge in the English language is beneficial for having a better understanding of the policies, including those for the WSH. However, 14% remained neutral, 10% disagreed and 4% strongly disagreed. Hence, importance of English language is undeniable. On the question of whether the organizations give a preference to the people with proficiency in English, 48% agreed and 18% strongly agreed. However, 18% responded neutral and 16% disagreed. The opinions varied because the researcher considered employees from five different Singaporean construction companies and operational strategies in these companies are different. Regarding the question on whether the organizations should provide basic training to the employees in the English language so that they can be more aware of various policies and guidelines including the WSH policies, understand and implement those well, majority (52%) agreed and 30% strongly agreed, 10% responded neutral and 8% disagreed. None of the participants strongly disagreed to this. Thus, it can be said that the employees perceive that the organizations should take some initiatives to make the employees more comfortable with various types of organizational policies. Correlation analysis Correlation analysis is performed on the numeric factors to find out the relative importance as well as impact of the factors on each other, that is, the level and direction of the relation among the variables (Wildemuth 2016). The researcher used MS Excel tool to perform this function. The table below exhibits the correlation coefficients, which is measured against the value of Pearsons correlation coefficient, with the value ranging from +1 to -1. WSH is important in the workplace Communication is essential for the purpose of availing the advantages of the WSH Good skills at English communication efficiency in English can help you in the workplace regarding availing the WSH services better knowledge in English helps to better understand WSH services organization gives preference to people with proficiency in English organization should give basic training in English language to make employees aware of the WSH policies and guidelines WSH is important in the workplace 1 Communication is essential for the purpose of availing the advantages of the WSH 0.4856 1 Good skills at English communication 0.0269 0.3557 1 efficiency in English helps in the workplace regarding availing the WSH services 0.2173 0.2882 0.6808 1 better knowledge in English helps to better understand WSH services 0.1071 0.1459 0.5516 0.6401 1 organization gives preference to people with proficiency in English language -0.0899 0.0447 0.3977 0.4914 0.6527 1 organization should give basic training in English language to make employees aware of the WSH policies and guidelines 0.2567 0.3375 0.5182 0.4516 0.3824 0.4393 1 Table 1: Correlation among the variables From the above table, it is found that all the variables are positively correlated with each other except the relation between the importance of WSH in the workplace and if the organizations give preference to the people with English proficiency. This indicates that the variables are linearly dependent, that is, these are having a linear relationship (Wildemuth 2016). Importance of WSH depends on peoples perception, while hiring people with English language proficiency is an organizational strategy. These two factors cannot influence each other positively and hence, the correlation coefficient is not positive. For all the other variables, focusing on the English language proficiency and its effectiveness in understanding of the WSH policies and effective implementation of those, have all displayed positive relation among each other, that is, one factor positively influences the other. Thus, it can be said at the end of this chapter, that, knowledge and proficiency of English language is important for better understanding and implementation of the WSH policies. Similar to other types of organizational policies, the WSH rules and regulations should also be understood by the employees, so that they can act accordingly if any situation arises. Having proficiency in English helps the employees to know and understand the requirements of these policies and regulations well and apply those efficiently when required. Thus, it can be said that the null hypothesis is rejected and alternative hypothesis is accepted, that is, English proficiency has significant impact on the WSH in the construction companies of Singapore. Conclusions and recommendations Introduction This chapter presents the concluding remarks about the findings through the data analysis of this research study. It is found from the process of data collection and analysis that, the researcher had considered various factors that can affect effectiveness of the understanding of the WSH policies of the 5 construction companies of Singapore. The selection of the factors came from the knowledge gained from the study of the past literature. The researcher conducted frequency analysis of the survey responses and it is found that the respondents have majorly agreed to all the factors contributing to the English proficiency and its impact on the understanding of the WSH policies in the company. It is also found that, all the factors are positively correlated with each other, which indicates that English proficiency not only helps in understanding the policies, but also in getting preference during the hiring process. The comparison of the outcomes with the objectives of the paper is discu ssed below. Linking to the objectives Linking to the first objective The first objective of this research paper is to evaluate the effect of proficient knowledge in English language in the workplace environment regarding WSH policies. The researcher has refereed to various scholarly articles on the related subjects to find out different aspects of the implications of language proficiency on the policies, like, WSH. The researcher also analyzed the primary data. From both types of data analysis, it is found that, language proficiency is important for any organization and for understanding all types of organizational policies. As English is a global language, and number of international workers is increasing everywhere, the organizations put emphasis on making English the formal or official language. English is also very important for any international dealing. Hence, the organizations expect English language proficiency or minimum the basic knowledge of English among the employees for a smooth functioning of the organizational activities, such as, effe ctive implementation of the WSH policies. Linking to the second objective Identifying the effectiveness of English language in understanding the WSH principles of an organization is the second objective of the research study. Through the analysis of the primary data, the researcher has found that, the respondents perceive that proficiency in English language is helpful in better understanding of the organizational policies, such as, WSH policies. Majority of the respondents of the survey have reported that, better knowledge in English is beneficial for a clear understanding as well as implementation of the policies effectively. As English is used widely in all organizations across the world, concentration or only focus on the regional or local language may put obstacles in the path of growth for the organization. Hence, for formulating and implementing any policy, the organizations in Singapore are using English and the employees also feel that the basic knowledge and proficiency will help them in better functioning in the organization. Linking to the third objective The third objective of the paper aimed at evaluating if the people who have better knowledge in English along with any other language have any advantage over the people who do not have that skill. From the primary data analysis, it is seen that, 48% of the respondents agreed and 18% strongly agreed that the organizations give preference to the people who have proficiency in the English language. It can be said from this observation that, people who have knowledge in English and some other language as well as who have proficiency in the English language, are preferred by the organizations during hiring and any other organizational work. Thus, people who do not have much knowledge in English go into the backfoot due to the organizational way of working. Recommendations The researcher presents some recommendations on the basis of the data analysis to address the issues that have been found. Regarding the effectiveness of the English language proficiency in the implementation of the WSH policies, certain observations have been found from the data analysis. The recommendations by the researcher will help in eliminating or reducing those issues. 52% of the respondents agreed to the idea that the organizations should give basic English training to the employees so that they could understand the policies well. The organizations can also function more effectively if they do not have to put extra effort in translating the policies in different languages. Thus, to educate the employees, coming with different language proficiencies, the organizations should invest in language learning programs. People have reported that better knowledge in English help them in better understanding of the policies. However, the management should be cooperative and supportive enough so that employees can ask them if they fail understand or implement any policies. WSH is extremely important in any organization, as that is directly related with the health and safety issues of not only the employees but all other people associated with the organization. Hence, special emphasis should be put on making simple and easily comprehensible WSH policies, so that, people who do not have proficiency in the English language, can also understand the policies and act accordingly. Majority of the respondents agreed to the question of importance of communication for the purpose of availing the advantages of WSH policies. Hence, the government must put effort and investment in improving the standard of education and communication in the nation, and then only it will be reflected in the organizational level. Limitations and future scope of the study There are a few limitations of this research study. Firstly, the researcher has collected the primary data only through the questionnaire survey method and has not used the interview method. Interview provides scope of building a good relationship with the interviewee and also helps in gathering more detailed information and perspectives about the research topic, which is not possible with a close ended questionnaire. It is a flexible process, which is time and cost effective. Secondly, the sample size is taken small to reduce the complexity and robustness of the study. Small samples have the risk of containing sampling error or fluctuating error and hence can lead to biased results. Thirdly, the participants were asked only the close ended questions, with only three questions focusing on the demographics. It was done to lessen the horizon of the answers. Hence, it can be said that, in the future, the researchers can consider using both open and close ended questions to get a broader perspective on the research topic. They can also increase the sample size for obtaining a more precise outcome. The researchers should also perform qualitative analysis to add a new dimension to the study. Thus, there are some scope for the future researchers to perform a deeper study and analysis on the related topic that would focus on more specific contexts of the language proficiency and its implications on implementation of the WSH. References Bai, R., Hu, G. and Gu, P.Y., 2014. The relationship between use of writing strategies and English management in Singapore primary schools.The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher,23(3), pp.355-365. Bryman, A., 2015.Social research methods. Oxford university press. Business.gov.au, 2018.Workplace health safety. [online] Business.gov.au. 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Employee commitment to corporate globalization: The role of English language proficiency and human resource practices.Journal of World Business,50(1), pp.168-179. Research aim English as an international language English proficiency and organizational policies