With businesses expanding rapidly and demanding more from its employees, workplace health and safety has also become increasingly important. With the rise in technology, many new companies have been outsourcing their Human Resource department needs to outside firms. Many of these are not even in the same city as where the company is located, everything is done over the web. Worse than that, many companies are outright getting rid of their Human Resource Departments. One of the most important pieces of an HR department is to offer a support system to their employees, so everyone is able to not only remain physically healthy and safe, but also mentally. Without an in-house HR department companies cannot do that. From an article in Wall Street Journal “workers say they feel the absence of an in-house HR staff acutely, especially when it comes to bread-and-butter HR responsibilities such as mediating employee disputes and resolving pay problems.” There is a problem if employees cannot find a person within their organization that they can trust and resolve those type of issues. Workplace health and safety is critical in order for a company to succeed. Physical health and safety is important in the workplace, but so is their mental health and safety. If an employee has a dispute with their boss, or another co-worker, they do not have a place to go and try to resolve the dispute without an in house HR department. If the employee does not feel comfortable or safe in their own workplace, how are they supposed to get things done? Every employee deserves a workplace where they feel safe, healthy, and cared for. There are many steps that can be taken in order for this problem to be fixed. The first is to develop an in house HR department so employees can directly interact with the HR department members. Why should a company have an HR department? The HR Pulse explains that “A happy and healthy employee is more productive. The last thing any employer wants is a group of increasingly disgruntled employees who might view their organizations management team as one that only cares about profits and not its employees.” Not caring for your employees will make them feel less valued, which will have an effect on them mentally and they will not care to work for the company and try to be as productive as possible. The second step is to give more attention and focus on the importance of an HR department. One of the largest reasons why HR departments need to be taken seriously, is because “Human resources is the business of taking care of people. Businesses that focus on encouraging their employees to build relationships with their HR department experience improve teamwork, engagement and retention,” mentions The HR Team Website. Lastly, training the department and creating a plan needs to occur in order for the HR department to offer the workplace and healthy and safe environment. The four main categories that HR departments need to focus on in order to create a better working environment for all are, to establish open communication, implement strict safety policies, coordinate with management, and create health and safety training programs for employees. Establish communication is critical because without proper communication an organization will not be able to function. Everyone needs to be able to talk with each other in order to get things done. Also, an employee should have the right to feel comfortable to talk in their own workplace. They should not feel nervous or judged when they voice their opinions, because without open communication that organization is not healthy. Second strict safety policies need to be implemented so employees feel safe where they work. Things should not be broken and the workspace needs to be clean. It is unfair to an employee if they feel like they have to work in an unsafe place. The third part of the plan is important, because managers need to be trained how to interact with employees and how to treat them properly. Managers also need to be able to communicate how to keep the workplace safe and listen to the employees need. With proper management training, managers can create a healthy and safe working environment, which makes everyone happy. Lastly, creating a program to involve all employees in workplace health and safety will make everyone feel like they are part of the process and made an impact at the place they work. Every year the organization should set goals to make sure the workplace is health and safe. Overall, every single employee in the world deserves a healthy and safe working environment. Without a healthy and safe work environment employees become unproductive and not happy at their place of work. With proper training and programs, this can all be avoided and a business can thrive with a healthy, safe, and happy workplace.