Health and safety ethics for management

All employers are ethically required to provide a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. Health and safety professionals (HSP) may often be employed either full-time or part-time to achieve this end. The HSP should be viewed as a non-partisan provider of safety and health services at the workplace. He is equally on the side of management and worker in discharging his duties. His primary goal is to achieve a safe and healthy workplace and to improve the health of the workforce. Ethical dilemmas may surface in the course of the HSP's work largely because there may be occasions when there are conflicts of interest and loyalty derived from the different roles of the HSP. The best way to resolve such dilemmas is to prevent them from arising. However, when this is not possible, management's understanding of the professional ethical considerations of the HSP will help to improve the working relationship and professional results of these staff. Several aspects in the HSP's work require management's understanding. These include subjects such as communicating information on staff-medical examinations to management, and the disclosure of commercially confidential information to assess related health risks. Management should also be aware that guidelines have been developed by a number of professional health and safety organizations for their members. In the instances when answers to ethical questions cannot be resolved, these guidelines can be consulted, in conjunction with discussions with senior HSP colleagues.