Nothing can throw a cumbersome, possibly lawsuit-infested, and health and safety fee-laden spanner in the works of your business as a freak accident that could have been avoided.
While the first concern would certainly be the well-being of the workers affected by the accident at work, the employers whose jobs are to make sure the workplace is safe for everyone also need to take into consideration the financial and growth-hampering implications of suffering through an ordeal such as a workplace accident.
The good thing about accidents in modern-day establishments would be that they don’t really happen as often and more importantly – it’s easier now to prevent them than ever before.
Thanks to the different techniques and safety equipment we have available, ensuring your employees are safe has never been so accessible.
In this article, we’re going to talk about workplace safety and how not getting sued and hampered by health and safety inspections can improve your business! (Duh!)
Right then, let’s see what’s going on here, shall we?
1) Put Pen to Paper and Come Up With a Health and Safety Strategy
While most employees will be able to use common sense to ensure they’re doing everything in their power to stay safe at their workplace, it’s also true that many people tend to forget about some of the potential dangers in their immediate surroundings.
Therefore, you, as an employer, need to come up with a strategy that everyone can follow and adhere to. Depending on the sort of work you’re doing at your company, you may want to incorporate entries such as washing your hands regularly, cleaning your equipment after work, or even exercising.
Employers at Valve, the video game company, have a rule in place that their employees, who mostly all sit at desks in front of computer screens the entire day, must work out for a certain period of time to ensure their well-being!
2) Appoint a Health & Safety Person
After you’ve come up with a plan of action to protect your employees and keep them safe, what you’ll also need is a special sort of person to make sure your workers are adhering to the darn thing.
And that means adhering even if they don’t want to!
Folks who have been in the workforce for quite some time may be particularly unwilling to follow the new rules, so this is why a special health & safety person needs to make sure they do.
Remember, even a slight deviation from the rules in this scenario can be disastrous, so make sure these rules are adhered to at all times.
3) Put Your Employees Through Training
Depending on what sort of tools you use at your company and what your industry is, you may need to provide training for your employees in order to make them competent enough to operate potentially dangerous machinery.
If it’s a building site, for example, get your employees through a safety program where they’ll learn about the importance of wearing a helmet, and how to stay firmly on the scaffolding when they’re up high.
Now, the costs of putting an entire team of people through training can be quite high, but it’s all for a good purpose. It’s better to spend money preventing an accident than deal with lawsuits and enormous reparations later on!
4) Ensure All Machines and Equipment Are in Working Order
If your employees use machinery in their day-to-day work, important health and safety matter would be to make sure that every single machine works well and that it’s in perfect order.
Also, it’s essential you equip the working area with sufficient safety systems such as a ventilation system, a fire duct system to take care of the smoke, and a sprinkler system for emergencies. One of these fresh air systems will not only make the air in the rooms less stuffy but also ensure the smoke can escape in the case of a fire.
5) Take Mental Health into Consideration
Swinging over from the scaffolds of a civil engineering company to the cubicles of an IT business, we have to point out that mental health is also one of the health & safety parameters that need to be taken into consideration.
Often enough, folks who are working at their computers for prolonged periods of time can feel lonely, bored, cooped up, and even develop depression due to a foul combination of a sedentary workplace routine, as well as a lack of communication with their fellow workers.
All of these can be averted and mended. What you do is appoint a mental health expert to perform regular checkups on your employees and install a coffee machine perhaps. Maybe you do down the well-trodden Valve path and include a couple of elliptical machines for good measure!
All in all, the workplace you’re overseeing is a place where your employees will spend nearly half of their day, so ensuring it runs smoothly is essential for their well-being and overall happiness at work. Also, NOT having to deal with lawsuits and unnecessary accidents is always a plus for a company.
