Managing Medical Safety at Workplace is critical - Dr. Santosh Datar, Ziqitza Healthcare

Managing safety & Health is fundamental part of managing a business. Organizations need to do a risk evaluation to find out & set up measures about the potential hazards & risk at their workplace to effectively control them and ensue these don’t harm to workers Normally safety and occupational health are related to work in factories, mines etc. But it is an all-pervasive concept which includes all workplaces, all public places and even homes. Dr. Santosh Datar from Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd remarked, “Occupational safety implies being safe from hazards and prevent accidents at workplace.

Occupational safety and health, including compliance with the OSH requirements pursuant to national laws and regulations, is the responsibility and duty of the employer. Health at workplace has two elements viz. Occupational Health and Employee Wellness. Occupational health implies prevention of diseases arising out of occupation.

Below Few elements of this process are discussed here below by Dr. Santosh Datar from Ziqitza Healthcare:

1. Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA)

Risk assessment is a fundamental step in prevention of accidents and work-related illnesses. This task must be carried out by trained professional team. Experts at Ziqitza says, all hazards during routine as well as non-routine activities in the office premises must be documented to assess the risk.

2. Standard operating procedures

A workplace health and safety manual should be developed including standard operating procedures. The document also should include emergency preparedness, emergency evacuation procedure and Medical Emergency Response Plan (MERP)

3. Putting Controls for Workplace Hazards

Most of the controls ideally should be placed at the time of construction of building (such as earthquake safety measures) and office design. However, after the preparation of HIRA document, appropriate controls should be placed with help of experts and risk is reassessed to measure their effectiveness.

4. Training, Health Educations & Audits

The training sessions may include sensitization training on Occupational safety, general awareness of safety and health work practices, safe handling of electrical appliances, operating fire extinguishers, emergency preparedness procedures, first aid etc. Health Education sessions on life style diseases, healthy eating, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, metal health, stress management, infectious diseases etc. also should be conducted to promote positive health, similar training were made by the team at Ziqitza Rajasthan.

5. Few Workplaces Safety & Health Practices:

• All emergency exit routes and exit doors should be clearly marked and they should be free of any clutter and obstacles

• Fire safety measure such as fire alarm, sprinklers and fire extinguishers should be installed

• An ergonomic computer workstation should be provided to reduce ergonomic hazards

• Appropriate hand railings in toilets and staircases should be provided to prevent fall

• Safety signages should be put in proper locations (e.g., wet floor, exit routes, No Smoking etc.)

Dr. Santosh Datar from Ziqitza comments that the main elements of these controls are workplace design, use of appropriate devices, standard operating procedures, employee training, regular testing and regular audits.

Speaking about the importance of Medical Room, Mr. Nandadeep Pandharkar – Sr. Vice President, Ziqitza Healthcare said, “Medical emergency strikes without warning in form of an accident or sudden illness. Research has shown that many patients with severe injury or heart attack or any other life-threatening medical conditions, die within first one hour. Hence this is called “Golden hour”. It is important that patient reaches an appropriate advanced health care facility within this hour.

Managing safety and Health at any workplace is a scientific and dynamic process. Company & employers who wants to ensure safety of their workers beyond insure, Ziqitza Limited is the right partner to set up a complete Medical & Healthcare module at the workplace. This will not only help in timely management of medical emergencies in the premises as well as boost staff morale and reduce legal liabilities of the organization in case of any untoward incident. It makes a good business sense as it is an investment and not an expense. We are currently serving over 70 leading corporate & hospitals like Flipkart, ACC, D.Y.Patil Hospital, Max healthcare, Reliance Industries pan India to make their workplace safe.“

About Ziqitza Healthcare Limited

Ziqitza Healthcare Limited (ZHL) is the leading provider of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in India since 2005. Our clients include hospitals, the Government and corporate clients in India & Gulf for varied EMS requirements like Ambulances, Medical Mobile units, telemedicine, and helplines. ZHL Rajasthan & Ziqitza limited Rajasthan also have appreciate Dr. Datar & his team at Ziqitza limited for the observations made safety & Health at workplace India. The company engages over 39,000+ ambulance network in India with services available in 750+ cities.

For further information please contact: visakh.dayanandan@zhl.in