Occupational health and safety is a field which links several schools of thought with scholarly disciplines so as to minimize on risks pertaining to human health and welfare. The main aim of this program is to promote an environment that is safe for work, but it also has other effects on other areas like communities and families. An effective occupational health and safety department helps an organization to improve its operations and to reduce some unnecessarily incurred costs like insurance and other losses (Goetsch, 2002).

Safety is of extreme importance in any setting, whether at home, school, work, or in social gatherings. Common hazards at the workplace which a safety professional should be well acquainted with are subdivided into various groups and subgroups which are: mechanical hazards, chemical hazards, biological hazards, physical hazards, musculoskeletal disorders and psychological issues like harassment, stress and violence (Hopwood, 2006). One of the key duties of a safety professional is to create a culture of safety by creating awareness among the workers that the safety department is there to ensure a safe working environment for them so as to guard their health. He should be well versed in human psychology so that he can successfully train staff to be in control of their own safety and that of their workmates (Goetsch, 2002).

Many people have the notion that safety professionals’ work is to be bossy and to move around tracking staff with the hope of catching them in the act of breaking the company’s safety rules, but nothing could be further from the truth (Hopwood, 2006). A safety professional should be fully involved, willing to work hands-on and not merely sitting down behind a PC, as many would think. His work involves a lot of travelling and field work, which includes mines, offices and factories. Being involved helps the safety professional to have perfect knowledge of the potential safety hazards that are in the work place. He also has to establish good interpersonal skills with his colleagues at work, because it will be necessary to interact with workers of all levels in order to get feedback and to take note of all hazards and working difficulties so as to pass the right information to his superiors. His career is more of a leadership career than a management career (Spellman, 2004).

A safety professional who wants to undertake independent practice should be able to fully apply the skills and the knowledge they have learnt in the marketplace, which is characterized by intensive competition and high-level technology. A professional safety worker should have a passion and a strong will to learn because working in the dynamic market requires one to be willing to update his knowledge and skills so as to be competent. He should be able to comfortably and efficiently develop and conduct a workplace safety program that positively influences how his trainees work (Hopwood, 2006). For him to succeed in independent practice, he should be an excellent communicator who can convince those he supervises to do what he wants done with simplicity. Respect from those under his supervision should be earned, not demanded. This can only be done by him having a courteous and respectful attitude towards them (Spellman, 2004).

A safety professional should not only have safety response skills and be able to deal with hazards that are encountered at the work place, but he should also be in a position to carry out a safety inspection, examine and do proper documentation of accidents that occur at the workplace. Since a safety professional should be compliant to the safety and environmental standard organizations, he should have the relevant know-how on identifying and handling materials that pose danger to health and safety. Skills that would give him an added advantage include basic chemistry, record keeping, ergonomics, fire and electrical safety (Goetsch, 2002).

References:

Goetsch, D.L. (2002). Occupational Safety and Health for Technologists, Engineers & Managers. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Hopwood, D., & Thompson, S. (2006). Workplace safety: a guide for small and midsized companies. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Spellman, F.R., & Whiting, N.E. (2004). Safety engineering: principles and practices. Blue Ridge Summit: Government Institutes.