Workplace Safety

Size does not matter

Workplace safety programs are important to all nonprofit organizations. Remember: employees and volunteers are a nonprofit's most important asset. One might argue that a nonprofit run by one employee or one volunteer is at greater risk than a nonprofit with thousands of staff members. The argument would be: If that one person is out of commission, the nonprofit's mission is nonfunctioning. For all intents and purposes that nonprofit is defunct. That is not to say the nonprofit with thousands of paid and volunteer employees is at less risk, just that there's more of a chance that someone can step into the void and perform the tasks of the injured or ill person.

Create ownership of the program

Paid and volunteer staff members' health and safety are affected not only by their own actions but by those of their co-workers. Senior management must help staff members manage hazards associated with their work (tasks or responsibilities). They also need to make certain employees and volunteers are fit for work. Fitness for work involves drug and alcohol issues, physical and emotional well-being, and fatigue and stress.

People need to be engaged with the creation and implementation of the safety program for it to succeed. For example, the nonprofit is responsible for supplying employees and volunteers with appropriate safety equipment, but staff are responsible for wearing it at the right times and places. The nonprofit should provide paid and volunteer staff with training to help them carry out their assignments, but these staff members are responsible for attending this training, asking questions and telling supervisors if they do not understand what is being explained. This may require staff members to act assertively — to speak up for themselves: 'I do not understand how to use these, could you please show me.'

Source:https://nonprofitrisk.org/tools/workplace-safety/nonprofit/c1/wkplcsafety.htm

Glossary:  

Nonprofit: Sem fins lucrativos

Asset: De ativos

Staff: Funcionários

Less risk: Menos riscos

Void: vazio

Drug: droga

Telling: dizendo

being: sendo

Themselves: si mesmos

Assertively: assertivamente

Could:poderia