Safe Work in the 21st Century Education and Training Needs for the Next Decade's Occupational Safety and Health Personnel (2000) / Chapter Skim
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5 The Changing Organization of Work
5 The Changing Organization of Work
Pages 125-140
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From page 125... ...
They are pressured to compete for talent, innovate, provide exceptional service quality, and bring products and services to market fast at competitive prices. The implications of these business developments for workers include demand for new skills and continuous learning, expanded job scope, accelerated work pace, and changing workplaces.
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From page 126... ...
Nevertheless, it is clear that the past decade has witnessed major changes in both the organization and the nature of work, and it is anticipated that the magnitude and pace of change will continue in response to global competition, advances in technology, and accelerating accumulation of knowledge (Howard, 1995~. This fluidity poses important challenges for occupational health and safety training, skills development, and worker safety.
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From page 127... ...
It prohibits preferential treatment of local companies over ones based in foreign countries, and it limits member governments from influencing any investment or financial service related to trade. Supplemental accords related to NAFTA address environmental concerns, labor, and the subject of import surges (North American Free Trade Agreement, 1994~.
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From page 128... ...
In addition, the complexity of information management needs in industry has created an information technology services business for outsourcing, consulting, systems integration, and product support with estimated revenues of $246 billion (Iohn Fisher, International Business Machines Corporation, personal communication, September 3, 1999~. Commerce and work are undergoing major transformations related to this deployment of information technology.
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From page 129... ...
Database integration and analytical software permit assessment of design decisions on quality, cost, and maintenance requirements (National Research Council, 1995, 1999~. Production on the factory floor has expanded the use of computing technology beyond the electronic operation of equipment, sensors, and control systems (robots)
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From page 130... ...
At the enterprise level the impact of global competition is creating new business models that promote speed to market and increased flexibility to meet marketplace demands for customized products. These models create businesses composed of a core set of
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From page 131... ...
It has also generated a demand for a different type of worker in manufacturing. Employers seek workers who possess learning skills that allow the workers to respond to the shorter half-lives of manufacturing processes, greater cognitive skills so that they can analyze and act on data presented through computer interfaces, effective interactive skills which allow them to work in team environments, and leadership skills so that workers can promote collaboration in cross-functional and multiemployer environments (National Research Council, 1999~.
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From page 132... ...
Portable personal computer shipments grew from approximately 1.3 million in 1991 to 6.4 million in 1998 (Integrated Data Corporation, 1998~. These changes in the location of the workplace create uncertainty regarding potential safety and health hazards, responsibility for their assessment and remediation, the validity of occupational injury and illness surveillance data systems that assume a single employer facility, and traditional notions of "exposure" that are based partly on assumptions of people fixed in space and time.
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From page 133... ...
The growth in the number of contingent workers and other networked employees makes work environments more fluid and makes the work being performed more fluid. Hours and Pace of Work Since 1992, when Juliet Schor published her book entitled The Overworked American, it has generally been accepted that people are working longer hours.
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From page 134... ...
Alternate schedules included evening shifts (4.6 percent) , night shifts (3.5 percent)
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From page 135... ...
Implications of Changes in Work Design for Training of Occupational Safety and Health Personnel Technology, distributed work arrangements, increased hours and pace of work, and increased diversity in the work environment create special challenges for occupational safety and health personnel. First, although application of automated production methods to dangerous and repetitive tasks has reduced some traditional workplace hazards, new hazards may emerge related to a specific technology (e.g., emissions or cognitive demands)
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From page 136... ...
Coupling the notion of a matrix organization that integrates lateral communication channels with the hierarchical communications channels of more traditional organizational structures with project teams has resulted in the growth of cross-functional teams. "Quality" Management Systems The search by organizations to be more competitive has resulted in several new approaches to managing business processes such as just-intime (NIT)
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From page 137... ...
Temporary help agency workers and independent contractors work in client environments and shift their work environments at greater frequencies than noncontingent workers (National Research Council, 1999~. Control over these environments often resides outside the individual or his or her employer, and changes to the work environment may involve financial, legal, and other complexities not present in fixed, single employer premises.
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From page 138... ...
Growth in the numbers of contingent workers will challenge OSH personnel to rethink notions of exposure, surveillance, and intervention strategies, given the fluidity of the work environment. In addition, understanding legal considerations in multiemployer work environments will be important for occupational health professionals in implementing work site training and providing appropriate recommendations for workplace modification.
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From page 139... ...
In addition, occupational safety and health personnel themselves are not immune to job elimination or being assigned to self-managed work teams. Therefore, they need to be skilled in working within multidisciplinary teams and have a core competency in business process, finance, planning, and management.
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From page 140... ...
They are pressured to compete for talent, innovate, provide exceptional service quality, and bring products and services to market fast at competitive prices. The implications of these business developments for workers include demand for new skills and continuous learning, expanded job scope, accelerated work pace, changing workplaces, uncertainty in employment relationships, heightened interactivity in job performance, and greater interface with information and communications technologies.
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