Risk and Prevention in Work and Organizational Settings

Introduction

Occupational safety thinking has undergone considerable extensions of scope during the last years. The focus shifted from personal characteristics as source of risk to the influence of work place as source of risk to organizational factors (Sheehy & Chapman, 1987). Prevention of occupational accidents and safeguarding of employee health as well as protection of environment have become [Page 830]critical elements within a holistic framework of comprehensive ‘integrated safety management’ strategies (Zimolong, 1996). According to Hoyos and Ruppert (1993) safety can be achieved through joint and continuous efforts of management and employees in conjunction with requisite technical installations and safeguards. Thus, attention is directed to aspects of the encompassing organizational system instead of only focusing on individual workers and their work place but it remains centred ...