Health Safety Environment
What is occupational safety?
In practice, the terms occupational health and safety at work are often used in the same sense, although they are different areas. Occupational safety refers to all measures that serve the purpose of ensuring that employees can carry out their work without endangering their health. The aim of occupational safety is to prevent damage and injuries resulting from accidents and/or occupational diseases. According to the definition, occupational safety is part of occupational health and safety. The latter is intended to protect employees not only from work-related hazards, as in occupational safety, but also from harmful stresses. This includes, for example, regulations on maximum permissible working hours and others.
What is the aim of occupational safety?
Its aim is to prevent damage to health that can result from a commercial activity. To this end, work processes and work equipment are designed in such a way that the risk of danger is kept as low as possible. This includes, for example, light barriers, emergency stop switches, sensors, protective grids and similar devices. For technological reasons, it is not always possible to ensure occupational safety through such measures. Therefore, in many cases, the wearing of PPE (personal protective equipment) is mandatory. This includes, for example, safety shoes, safety helmets, protective goggles, hearing protection and the like.
Who is responsible for occupational safety and how is it enforced in practice?
The main responsibility for occupational safety lies with the employer. However, the employee also has a duty to cooperate and cannot leave the enforcement of occupational safety to their own devices.
Compliance with occupational safety regulations is in the interest of both the employer and the employee. Efforts can only be successful if all those involved, employers and employees, cooperate. Occupational safety concerns everyone.
