risk management – Page 23 – Risk Management 365

The Role of HR in Risk Management

Human resources have two roles in risk management.

First, people are a source of risk, e.g., shortage of employees, people doing sloppy work, an employee refusing to take on additional responsibility, or a key employee leaving two months after completion of a one-year training program.

Second, people are important in handling risk, e.g., people using their ingenuity to solve unexpected problems, employees going the extra mile for the good of the organization, a key employee redesigning her own job to avoid unnecessary delays in getting work done, or an employee persuading a talented friend to apply for a position in the business.

via The Role of Human Resource Management in Risk Management – eXtension.

How can workplace violence hazards be reduced?

In most workplaces where risk factors can be identified, the risk of assault can be prevented or minimized if employers take appropriate precautions. One of the best protections employers can offer their workers is to establish a zero-tolerance policy toward workplace violence. This policy should cover all workers, patients, clients, visitors, contractors, and anyone else who may come in contact with company personnel.

By assessing their worksites, employers can identify methods for reducing the likelihood of incidents occurring. OSHA believes that a well written and implemented Workplace Violence Prevention Program, combined with engineering controls, administrative controls and training can reduce the incidence of workplace violence in both the private sector and Federal workplaces.

This can be a separate workplace violence prevention program or can be incorporated into an injury and illness prevention program, employee handbook, or manual of standard operating procedures. It is critical to ensure that all workers know the policy and understand that all claims of workplace violence will be investigated and remedied promptly. In addition, OSHA encourages employers to develop additional methods as necessary to protect employees in high risk industries.

via Safety and Health Topics | Workplace Violence.

Worksite Wellness – Sustainability

Quality Work and Quality Living

A positive wellness culture in the workplace contributes to the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of workers. The workplace becomes more productive and constructive when employers integrate breaks for rejuvenation. It also helps to establish clear and reasonable roles and responsibilities and respect the time and talents of individuals and their non-work demands. These steps provide the organization with more opportunity to reduce the number of sick days and health-associated costs. Are you working to make your office a healthy place for yourself and your colleagues?

Worksite Wellness at a Glance

Helps employees take responsibility for lifestyle choices
Educates workforce about hazards and opportunities for wellness
Enhances employee productivity
Reduces absences and idleness
Reduces health care costs
Shifts health care paradigm from treatment to prevention

For Employers

Establish programs for exercise during the workday
Implement a no-smoking policy and provide resources for tobacco cessation
Allow flexible work schedules and telecommuting
Encourage personnel to take the stairs
Select worksites close to public transportation, walking trails, fitness facilities, and other amenities

via CDC – Worksite Wellness – Sustainability.

Talent and Skills Shortage Top Risk for 2012

Despite record unemployment levels across much of the US, American business leaders say one of the biggest risks they now face is a talent and skills shortage. That’s according to the 2011 Lloyd’s Risk Index, carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which polled 500 C-Suite and board level executives in North America, Europe, Asia and elsewhere to assess corporate risk priorities and attitudes around the world.

via Talent and Skills Shortage Top Risk for 2012 According to Business Leaders: HR Human Resources.

What is Blake Mouton’s Managerial Grid?

There is risk in not knowing how to manage people. The Blake & Mouton’s Managerial Grid is a great tool to evaluate leadership style for change and improvement.

The managerial grid model (1964), developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, is a behavioral leadership model. The model is an excellent way to map out different leadership styles, and an excellent way to evaluate the leadership performed by leaders and managers.

This model identifies five different leadership styles based on the concern for people and the concern for production. It is important to remember that none of the concerns are right or wrong, and the concerns are ideally balanced to the respective situational context of leadership.

Concern for People relates to the degree to which a leader considers needs of employees and team members before deciding how to accomplish a task. A high degree of concern could be coupled to a more democratic leadership style, whereas a low concern for people could be coupled to an autocratic leadership style.

Concern for Production relates to the degree to which a leader emphasizes production effectiveness and efficiency when deciding how best to accomplish tasks.

By charting the position in the grid it is possible to diagnose which leadership style is being performed, and to evaluate the appropriateness of the style of leadership.

via What is Blake & Mouton’s Managerial Grid?.

The Risk Management Process

Risk management is a cycle. That means that it is not something that gets checked off a “to do” list but it is a continuous activity. Having a risk management process means that your organization knows and understands the risks to which you are exposed. It also means that your organization has deliberately evaluated the risks and has strategies in place to remove the risk altogether, reduce the likelihood of the risk happening or minimize harm in the event that something happens.

At a very basic level, risk management focuses you on two fundamental questions:

What can go wrong?
What will we do to prevent the harm from occurring in the first place and in response to the harm or loss if it actually happens?

via Risk Management in HR | HR Planning | HR Toolkit | hrcouncil.ca.

Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)

What is hazardous energy?

Energy sources including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal or other sources in machines and equipment can be hazardous to workers. During the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment, the unexpected startup or release of stored energy could cause injury to employees.

via Safety and Health Topics | Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout).

Five HIPAA Requirements for Wellness Programs

What are the five requirements for wellness programs which base a reward on satisfying a standard related to a health factor?

The total reward for all the plan’s wellness programs that require satisfaction of a standard related to a health factor is limited – generally, it must not exceed 20 percent of the cost of employee-only coverage under the plan. If dependents (such as spouses and/or dependent children) may participate in the wellness program, the reward must not exceed 20 percent of the cost of the coverage in which an employee and any dependents are enrolled.
The program must be reasonably designed to promote health and prevent disease.
The program must give individuals eligible to participate the opportunity to qualify for the reward at least once per year.
The reward must be available to all similarly situated individuals. The program must allow a reasonable alternative standard (or waiver of initial standard) for obtaining the reward to any individual for whom it is unreasonably difficult due to a medical condition, or medically inadvisable, to satisfy the initial standard.
The plan must disclose in all materials describing the terms of the program the availability of a reasonable alternative standard (or the possibility of a waiver of the initial standard).

via FAQs About The HIPAA Nondiscrimination Requirements.

Developing an Effective HR Compliance Program

Human resources compliance is a necessity for any business in today’s legal environment. Between the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), OSHA, sexual harassment, and antidiscrimination laws, a business that isn’t aware of its HR responsibilities is headed for trouble.

When done correctly, HR compliance is a process. It’s a way of defining proper individual and group behaviors, and assuring that laws and policies are understood and followed. This means you must know the laws and develop appropriate policies in relation to these laws. Compliance also means you and your managers need to communicate these policies to the troops, along with your expectations for adherence and the consequences for nonadherence. The latter requires specific investigative and punishment procedures.

Effective HR compliance programs need to be integrated into your business strategies and given more than just lip service. Compliance has to start at the top and trickle down to all levels, so everyone in the company knows that the workplace must be kept safe and discrimination won’t be tolerated.

via Developing an Effective HR Compliance Program | Legal > Labor & Employment Law from AllBusiness.com.

Safety Tip – Safe emergency exit routes

Knowing how and when to get out of a building is critical in an emergency situation. All employees should be properly trained on emergency exit procedures, and evacuations should be routinely practiced.

Having a successful evacuation is dependent on having reliable exit routes. OSHA requires every workplace to have at least two evacuation exits or more depending on the size of the facility or workforce.

To keep exit routes safe, OSHA offers the following tips:

Keep exit routes free of all clutter, equipment, locked doors and dead-end corridors.
Be sure to keep highly flammable furnishings and decorations at a safe distance from emergency exits.
Post signs along the walls indicating safe evacuation routes and be sure paths are well-lit.
Arrange exit routes so employees will not have to travel past high-hazard areas unless absolutely necessary.
Clearly label doors that can be mistaken for an exit with a sign reading “Not an exit” or indicating the room’s purpose, such as “Closet.”

via Safety Tip Safe emergency exit routes.