Regardless of what type of workplace it is, from the office to the warehouse, you need to make sure that it’s fulfilling its purpose. More than just being a place for your team to get their work done, it’s a space that should house, protect, and take care of your human resources. The most important aspect of this is, of course, making sure that you create and maintain a clean and a safe workplace for them to work in.
A safe and healthy staff contributes to a happier workplace, which will help your business to be more productive and efficient. To attain a happy and efficient business, here are some of the best safety measures to take for anyone that runs their own business (or is in control of the health and safety protocols).
Not only that but what to do if a workplace injury does occur.
Table of Contents
Why Safety Matters In The Workplace
Safety in the workplace is crucial for several reasons. First and foremost, ensuring a safe work environment protects employees from harm and prevents accidents.
When safety measures are in place, workers can focus on their tasks without worrying about potential dangers.
Additionally, prioritizing safety boosts employee morale and productivity. When workers feel secure, they are more motivated and engaged in their jobs.
Furthermore, maintaining a safe workplace reduces the risk of costly incidents and legal liabilities for employers.
What To Do Following A Workplace Injury
Act Fast
Dawdling after an accident is the worst thing you can do as a manager. An injured employee must be looked at and treated by whoever is responsible for First Aid.
Most workplace injuries are minor and include a cut that you can treat easily.
However, more hazardous environments, like construction sites, may risk more significant injuries. The quicker you act, the sooner you will be able to provide the necessary treatment, whether on-site or at a hospital.
Report The Incident
Failing to report incidents is a sign of a bad manager. Often, these managers do not report issues because they know they have not done something correctly, yet this puts you and your business at risk of legal action.
Therefore, you must detail the report by getting information from the employee along with anyone else who was in the area at the time. A detailed report submitted to OSHA makes the incident official and prevents potential liability on your behalf.
Vague or non-committal reports are unsuitable as they never give the entire picture of what happened, which means the accident could happen again.
Identify What Happened and Adjust
You should learn what happened to cause the accident even if you were not there. Besides employee reports, you can also check any CCTV that will provide a clear picture of what occurred and clear up any conflicting information.
In the case of machinery failures, you may be able to get a software report to highlight what happened.
After you have determined what happened, you must carry out a risk assessment to make sure it does not happen again. It could be that machinery was being overworked or that someone did not tidy up after themselves, which caused a trip hazard.
Establishing safety protocols in this instance is vital to maintain a safe workplace.
Support Your Employee
As your employee was injured on your watch, you share the obligations. You cannot simply ignore their issues, so providing support for your employees can mitigate further problems.
If your employee believes they were not at fault, they may want to receive compensation, yet this is not always straightforward. Once they have submitted their request, you can provide resources, including information on how to track my worker’s comp check, which should give them an idea of how the injury impacts them financially.
Regular check-ins and discussions can also help your employees feel more comfortable and prepare them to return to work when possible.
Employee Safety
You know that employee safety is paramount. If you understand the correct protocols to follow, you can prevent any accidents from worsening and ensure that the same thing does not happen again.
This results in a more confident workplace that maintains productivity while protecting your business from liability. Here are some tips to avoid injuries from happening in the first place:
Look for Danger To Keep A Safe Workplace
You shouldn’t ignore the potential issues in the workplace that could cause injury or illness if something goes wrong. Therefore, you should be actively looking out for them. You can do this with the help of services like a safety audit that will look over every part of the workplace.
You should also look into Lozier storage systems, as a way to keep any dangerous, or hazardous items for your business safe.
Look to see what potential risks lie there, and offer recommendations on what you can do to make them safe. Otherwise, you could be charged with being neglectful in the case of an accident.
Correct labeling
No matter what your business is, you likely have dangerous hazards around the office, warehouse, or otherwise. Therefore, it is important to ensure that your workspace has correct labeling to reduce risk and incidents.
From hazard signs to labeling chemicals, you should ensure that every potential risk is obvious.
For instance, if you work in a laboratory with dangerous chemicals, you will not only want to name the chemicals but add safety labels so that the team knows how to use them safely.
Working alongside a Chemical Labeling Company will help to maximize workplace safety as having the correct labeling on substances will ensure that the individual knows how to safely use the chemical. Without proper labeling, the individual may not know the precautions to take while using the chemical.
Communicate Safety Procedures
If you do not communicate safety procedures to your team, how are they supposed to know every minute detail of the health and safety protocols?
It is essential to inform your team about all the safety procedures that are important to know to reduce risk and prevent incidents. Likewise, this communication of safety procedures should also include information on what to do should an incident happen.
This is different from workplace training as the communication of the procedures entails verbal cues as well as updates on new safety protocols. For instance, let’s say you work in a laboratory and you introduce a new chemical, you should inform your staff about the latest chemical and let them know how to use it safely.
Regular Training For A Safe Workplace
Alongside the communication of safety procedures, it is also essential for you and your team to partake in regular training. You should attain this from a professional health and safety training company so that you know all of the most effective measures to take to keep the workplace as safe as possible.
You should train new members of staff before they join and start work.
Furthermore, regular training will help to top up employees’ knowledge so that they remember how to act before, during, and after an incident occurs. Regular practices will help them be more aware of how to act in the workplace to minimize risk.
But regular training comes in a variety of shapes and sizes; sometimes, it’s updating the handbook and having employees read over that; it could be taking classes, watching videos, or even something more hands-on such as driving.
Speaking of which, if you have a fleet, you need to make sure that your employees not only have their licenses (which is obvious) but they get proper training in protocol, know how to properly operate the company cars, and so on.
Overall, ideally, no accidents happen when you need a car accident lawyer, so this is why proper training (and regular training at that) is really important. You need to be strict about this!
Ensure Good Visibility At All Times
The prevention of accidents should be one of the top efforts in turning your workplace into a safer place. There are a lot of ways you can more generally prevent accidents outside of addressing the more specific safety complaints that an audit might find.
Improving visibility in the workplace is always going to be crucial. This means making sure that there is good lighting across the entire workspace. Often you need specific task lighting for work-intensive spaces.
To Maintain A Safe Working Environment: Ensure Cleanliness
Another easy tip to take on board as a boss when maximizing workplace safety is to keep the workplace clean and tidy. A spill on the floor or a loose wire could cause an incident for any member of the team.
You can make it policy and practice for team members to take care of their own spaces. But when it comes to ensuring the best standards for the workplace, relying on a commercial cleaning team is going to offer a lot more consistency.
Of course, not only does it help to prevent accidents, but it creates a more hygienic workplace: one that’s less likely to cause people illness.
Comfort Matters In A Safe Workplace
Comfort might not sound like anything too essential. If anything, it sounds more like a “nice to have,” than something mandatory. However, when you’re designing a healthy workspace, it should be at the top of your list.
The single biggest cause of workplace disability is back pain. Back pain is caused not only by accidents but also by musculoskeletal injuries. This can happen due to a lack of back and posture support, especially when sitting at a desk.
Making use of ergonomic furniture in your workplace can help you reduce the risk of this happening under your watch.
Have An Incident Report Book Available For A Safe Workplace
When an incident does occur, it must be reported. This can be done verbally to you or in an incident report book. It is a good idea to have the incident report book available so that everyone has access to it.
Even if employees prefer to report it to you, an incident might occur when you are not available (off sick, in a meeting). Hence, they will need to report it somewhere so that it doesn’t go unaccounted for.
This book should display the date, time, witnesses, and details of what happened. This should be the first step to take by any witness unless the incident results in a person needing medical help.
If so, medical attention and assistance should be the first port of call.
Although the understanding of how to keep a workplace as safe and risk-free as possible seems obvious, some measures sometimes go unaccounted for. For instance, businesses might forget to conduct regular equipment checks or update staff on new safety procedures.
Make sure to tick off every one of these tips to ensure you achieve maximum workplace safety.
In Conclusion – How To Create and Maintain A Safe Workplace
The safety of your team should always be a top priority in how you manage your human resources. Follow the tips and continue to do your research into how to reduce the risks of injury in your workplace.
What are you doing to maintain a clean and safe workplace? I’d love to hear more about it.
