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Human Resource Management

SAFETY AND HEALTH interviews, and case studies (Cherrington, 1995). This
Not only must an organization see to it that employees’ research better enables organizations to predict cyclical
rights are not violated, but it must also provide a safe and trends and to properly recruit and select employees.
healthy working environment. Mondy, Noe, and Gowan
(2005) define safety as “protecting employees from CONCLUSION
injuries caused by work-related accidents” and health as Research is part of all the other six functions of human
keeping “employees free from physical or emotional ill- resource management. With the number of organizations
ness” (p. 432). In order to prevent injury or illness, the participating in some form of international business, the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) need for HRM research will only continue to grow. There-
was created in 1970. Through workplace inspections, cita- fore, it is important for human resource professionals to
tions and penalties, and on-site consultations, OSHA be up to date on the latest trends in staffing, performance
seeks to enhance safety and health and to decrease acci- appraisals, compensation and benefits, training and devel-
dents, which lead to decreased productivity and increased opment, employee and labor relations, and safety and
operating costs (Cherrington, 1995). health issues, both in the United States and in the global
Health problems recognized in the workplace can market.
include the effects of smoking, alcohol and drug/substance One professional organization that provides statistics
abuse, AIDS, stress, and burnout. Through employee assis- to human resource managers is the Society for Human
tance programs (EAPs), employees with emotional difficul- Resource Management (SHRM), the largest professional
ties are given “the same consideration and assistance” as organization for human resource management profession-
those employees with physical illnesses (Mondy, Noe, and als. Much of the research conducted within organizations
Gowan, 2005, p. 455). is sent to SHRM to be used for compiling international
statistics.
HUMAN RESOURCE RESEARCH SEE ALSO Management
In addition to recognizing workplace hazards, organi-
zations are responsible for tracking safety- and health- BIBLIOGRAPHY
related issues and reporting those statistics to the appro- Cherrington, David J. (1995). The Management of Human
priate sources. The human resources department seems to Resources. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
be the storehouse for maintaining the history of the Mondy, R. Wayne, Noe, Robert M., and Gowan, Mary (2005).
organization—everything from studying a department’s Human Resource Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pren-
tice-Hall.
high turnover or knowing the number of people presently
employed, to generating statistics on the percentages of Nadler, Leonard, and Wiggs, Garland D. (1986). Managing
Human Resource Development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
women, minorities, and other demographic characteris-
tics. Data for the research can be gathered from a number
of sources, including surveys/questionnaires, observations, Christine Jahn

372 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE, SECOND EDITION