The definition of "optimal working conditions" includes a listing of such working aspects that directly or indirectly determine the health status of a particular person and his level of life, the quality of everyday life. This concept is considered by the current legislation of our country; the normative documents establish a division into categories and parameters that allow us to rank a specific workplace as a specific group.
General Provisions
At present, in our country, the optimal working conditions at the workplace can be classified taking into account the existing factors in such a way that, according to the result, the object can be assigned to one of four main groups:
- optimal;
- allowable;
- malicious;
- dangerous.
Best for best
Only people accepted for a first-class position can count on creating optimal working conditions at the workplace . They will not have to face unsafe or malicious factors. In some cases, this is possible, but the impact of these aspects is minimized. The law allows the presence of a harmful factor within the limits of sanitation, hygiene declared by applicable law. At the same time, they analyze whether this is a danger to a particular person. An employee can work in such conditions when his working capacity is maximum, the situation is created to increase this indicator.
Of course, not all employed individuals within our country can count on creating optimal working conditions. Most of the professions do not allow working in such an environment, people are constantly faced with various hazards. But valuable workforce in a certain group of enterprises (see examples below) can successfully work in such optimal conditions when the entire surrounding space is created in order to achieve a comfortable state for a productive workflow.
And with us - like everyone else. Or not?
Optimal, permissible, harmful working conditions - the ability to work in these categories is preferable in comparison with hazardous jobs. Most of our fellow citizens are involved in enterprises where acceptable working conditions are created for them. But harmful ones are such a special case when it is already possible to count on some privileges.
It is customary to classify as harmful the conditions that have a negative impact on the life of a particular individual, the level and state of his health. Malicious factors are destructive, their effect is strictly unfavorable. Under the influence of harmful factors, the organic systems of our body begin to function incorrectly, chronic pathologies become aggravated, and acute ones develop. Workers who are forced to work in such conditions live less than those who managed to get into optimal working conditions.
Working factors
To evaluate a specific workplace, it is necessary to analyze all factors of the working conditions. These are said in the analysis of various aspects that exert a joint influence on each other and regulate both the vital activity of the human body and its state of health. At present, it is customary to talk about four main factors, on the basis of which it can be determined whether the working conditions are optimal, permissible, or whether it will be harmful or even dangerous.
Start from the beginning
The primary factor to be assessed is the economic and social conditions in which the particular employee finds himself. It analyzes what status an individual gets involved in solving problems at an enterprise. At the same time, attention is paid to the postulates of labor legislation and standards related to organizational issues. Optimal working conditions require decent pay, all others - in decreasing numbers less and less. The better will be the person’s environment, the more qualitatively the situation is determined and the employee’s safety is ensured. Among the social aspects, economic belong preferential programs, warranty, compensation.
The second most important and priority analysis is the organizational factor, which obliges to take into account the technical aspects of a particular workplace. Under his influence, material and material aspects of the work process are formed. This includes items used in the work, tools of the employee, as well as features of production processes and the organization of work. At the same time, optimal working conditions imply well-functioning production and prudent management, but all the rest - a gradual decrease in the quality level of these aspects.
What else is important?
Analyzing whether it is possible to say about a particular place that it is optimal, working conditions are created just like that, it is necessary to evaluate the natural aspects. Climate, geographical features of the region, geological specificity and biological - all these factors play a role. If the production is located in a human-friendly area, we can talk about optimal or acceptable working conditions, but, for example, for workers in the Far North and equivalent regions, one cannot count on this.
Finally, you need to analyze the living conditions and features of managing within the workplace. Attention is drawn to the extent to which the surrounding spaces correspond to the ideas about sanitation and hygiene, what is the living environment and how the workers' meals are organized. A complete analysis of all aspects of everyday life allows us to assess the quality of the place and the conditions that affect labor productivity.
Features of the classification system
It is customary to talk about three classes of the working environment, for each of them additional subgroups are distinguished. The most attractive employment option is a safe environment. This is organized in the form of optimal working conditions (a profession, for example, a programmer, if the enterprise correctly designed the workplace) or acceptable. If working factors can negatively affect a worker, their impact is strictly minimized, so in the general case a person does not even get tired if he observes the working regime.
At the same time, it should be noted that many firms officially provide workers with jobs with favorable working conditions, which in reality are transformed into acceptable, if not worse. This is due to processing, non-compliance with the standards prescribed in the documentation. If this situation arises, you can contact the labor inspectorate to protect your rights. If the employee does not agree with the assignment of his place of employment to a specific group of working conditions, it makes sense to seek the help of the state institutions responsible for protecting the rights of workers.
Oh bad
A harmful working environment is one that can provoke pathologies, malfunctions of the body in a chronic form, as well as a temporary violation of the activity of organs and systems. In harmful conditions, it is likely to encounter pathologies that are caused by the work process, but those who are already sick with something are worse: existing diseases in these conditions are actively progressing.
The last category is traumatic. These are the conditions of the work process when the life of the employee is at risk. In addition, health can be significantly affected. Risk accompanies only the working period of the day.
About sanitation
The classification of the conditions in which workers work is provided, taking into account hygienic aspects. At the same time, attention is paid to specific aspects of the work process. The main task of the employer is to minimize negative factors so that the production aspects are friendly to the worker. In relation to this type of classification, the optimal working conditions are those that allow the employee to maintain the existing level of health, as well as increase working capacity in the process of employment.
To the category of permissible can be attributed such conditions when there are unsafe, frankly harmful factors, but their impact on human health is relatively small and fits into the sanitary norms declared by law. The health of the employee, the level of his ability to work day by day worsen by the end of the employment period, but is fully restored by the beginning of a new day.
And about the sad
From a hygienic point of view, harmful - these are jobs where there is a sufficient variety of harmful factors, due to which the effect on human health is quite strong. Negatively affects the activity and different processes of life. In addition to the employee himself, the negative consequences will also be on reproductive function, heredity, and genetic information transmitted to children.
Finally, such extreme conditions can be added to the category of extreme conditions when a person's vital activity is inhibited. In the workplace, people are influenced by factors dangerous to them, there is a risk of injury and illness, and existing pathologies (in a chronic form) are exacerbated due to external conditions.
Work: better in comfort
It is difficult to give specific examples of optimal working conditions. Within the same profession, some enterprises organize their work in accordance with the above rules and regulations, while others neglect them. Workers of modern large firms find themselves in the best conditions if employers understand the relationship between a person’s working capacity and the productivity of his working day.
It is believed that the most comfortable conditions in which office workers work. But here there are limitations: each person must have personal space, equipment, level of lighting, otherwise the activity can lead to negative health consequences, including disruption of the musculoskeletal system, psyche, and visual system. On the other hand, by default, some professions may not be in optimal working conditions if, say, miners or firefighters regularly faced with a life threat, or people employed in workplaces in the Far North regions.
Production factors
Taking these features into account allows us to divide all working conditions into three large categories. These are physical, chemical and biological. By the latter, it is customary to understand the need to come into contact with a variety of microscopic life forms, protein preparations, cells, spores contained in agents and capable of surviving under such conditions. Chemical factors are toxic compounds, both natural and synthetic.
The physical aspects of the work process are the climate and related work features. The humidity level, temperature, electromagnetic environment, air circulation are taken into account. When analyzing working conditions, they pay attention to whether employees are forced to work under the influence of ultraviolet radiation or radio wave radiation, thermal or microwave radiation, etc., etc. In relation to the room, it is necessary to assess the level of dust and light, noisy space.
And about work
In assessing how optimal the working conditions are, it is necessary to analyze the severity of the processes in which the employee is involved. To identify the features of physical work, it is necessary to assess the energy expenditure and type of loads faced by the worker. Separately, the estimates give the dynamics, separately - the statics. It is important to know the overall level of muscle strain. Under optimal conditions, the work is easy, but under acceptable conditions - average. Finally, the need to work hard forces us to rank the workplace as dangerous or harmful.