[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on Drug Abuse, Depression and Workplace Violence
Employees who take safety seriously avoid injuries; that's a health and safety factor. These employees tend to have a more mature outlook that is considerate of themselves and others. And think about an employee who gets injured on the job. What does a serious injury do for an improved lifestyle and paycheck? Sadly, not much.
Safety-minded employees have a “response-able” attitude – an attitude that takes health and safety procedures into consideration in their lives and work. So they are responsible to follow health and safety procedures and rules, use the necessary protective equipment, and avoid the following “human factors:”
- Ignorance – Either a lack of experience or training – a frequent cause of accidents
- Daring Behavior – Or call it foolhardy behavior or horseplay
- Poor Work Habits – Too often a new person follows unsafe examples set by veteran employees.
- Unapproved Shortcuts – Haste can result in injury – quickly.
- Lack of Emotional Control – Stress and anger can distract you enough to cause a safety problem.
- Physical Failure and Fatigue – You might call it “biting off more than you can chew.”
One out of every 10 people in the United States has an alcohol problem. There’s a very good chance that someone where you work abuses alcohol or other drugs. Workers who have a substance abuse problem are far less productive, miss more days of work, and are more likely to injure themselves, someone else, and file more workers compensation claims.
The employer cannot absorb all of the costs, and therefore pass the cost on to all employees in the form of higher insurance premiums and reduced salaries & benefit packages. There are hidden costs too: stress to others who fill in for the absent workers, damage to equipment, drains on supervisory time, and reduction in high quality patient care.....
