An environmentally hostile work environment can not only ruin your health but it can create long term problems for your family as well. Coining a work environment “hostile” can mean anything from poor air quality in an office building to working with potentially hazardous materials with or without your knowledge.

While the early to mid 70s saw many hostile work environments exposing employees on the sly, employers today are required to alert employees to the potential for health risks upon hiring.

Daily exposure to even small hazards can create a health risk that you have a right to have remedied under certain circumstances. If your employer did not tell you about a potential health risk upon hiring there are legal actions that you can take in order to secure a cleaner work environment.

There are some industries which are seemingly inevitably hostile to work in. For example, an oil change station deals in used oil and other products that have been shown to cause cancer, not to mention the toll the spilled oil takes on the natural environment. Other workplace issues can involve inadequately recycled air such as some airlines still use today despite the attempts to clean up the breathability of plane air throughout the industry.

The most recent battles for a cleaner work environment include the battle for a smoke free workplace. Secondhand smoke exposure has been shown to have a significant impact on the health of workers, especially those that have worked in the environment for a long period of time. Restaurant workers, casino workers, and those who work in buildings with “smoking rooms” are generally considered to be at the highest risk.

The legislation that has banned smoking from these industries has come from the state level and is almost never a decision made by the company or industry itself. Smoking bans have been sweeping across the nation one state at a time in an effort to give all workers the chance to minimize risks associated with their work environment.

Creating a safe work environment is low on the priority list for many companies. Production at a minimum cost is the name of the game and any additional expenditure that is devoted to employee comfort or safety is not in the budget. Many companies skate by on the minimum safety requirements allowed by law, which in reality are really not very healthy or safety conscious. Minimum health and safety requirements still expose employees to the hostile work environment that can cause serious risks to one’s health. Yet these are the requirements that they are mandated to stick to by law.

It’s not so easy to replace an income that provides for a family. It’s not easy to walk away from a hostile work environment and find a safer, cleaner place to work. This is a quandary that everyone from coal miners to fire fighters to casino workers have faced over the years.

Walking out on an income can cause more problems than it solves. When asbestos was found to be detrimental to shipyard workers and the families of the shipyards, the turnover rate went up only about ½ % because there was no way for the workers to replace the income and benefits that they needed for their family. Many of these workers and their family members ended up paying a high price for that income.

Stronger legislation that calls for vast improvements in hostile work environments is highly necessary. While governmental interference might not take care of all problems, forcing companies to accept their responsibility in providing a safe workplace for employees is essential. If they aren’t forced to clean up the work place it really won’t happen. There are too many companies that are currently in violation of the existing standards that face no consequences because employees are fearful of losing their jobs should they complain. There are too many companies that provide the bare minimum and offer only limited benefits to their employees who fall ill from the hostility of the work environment.

Making the necessary changes within high risk industries and creating safer and cleaner work environments is the beginning of an entire workplace revolution. These changes have already been shown to improve worker moral, increase productivity, and create solidarity between the company and employees within the companies that have taken a strong initiative to offer a safer workplace. People by nature are more likely to respond positively to being protected from environmental dangers related to their work when the company imposes safety standards that exceed the minimum requirements for workplace safety.

While it costs money to clean up a hostile work environment and it is not a quick fix, companies all over the world that have invested the money find that they experience a higher profitability all around. Everything from turnover to worker’s compensation claims and insurance costs decline while worker productivity increases. Employees who feel protected and cared about are more productive than employees who feel like they are nothing more than a meaningless number.