A workplace accident can be a life-changing situation for the person who gets hurt, but it also affects their colleagues and the business as a whole. That’s why it’s not just down to individual people to prevent them. Everyone needs to put the effort in to prevent workplace accidents.
That’s much easier said than done. While every employer knows they need to put the effort into this, they mightn’t know what to do. That’s because of how different strategies should be used for different workplaces. Construction sites will need to prevent workplace accidents involving a forklift truck, which naturally wouldn’t affect people in an office, for example.
With five best practices, it can be much easier to avoid any accidents at work than you’d expect. It’s worth looking at what these are.
Prevent Workplace Accidents: 5 Best Practices
1. Have A Safety Plan
Having a safety plan is one of the more obvious ways to prevent workplace accidents, but the number of places that don’t have this is surprising. It’s something you’ll need to put time and effort into. It’s an in-depth plan of how you will avoid any workplace accidents while letting everyone know what they should do.
Have proactive measures in place with this to make sure the chances of an accident is as minimal as possible. The more comprehensive this is, the less likely it is that a workplace accident will happen. It’s something you’ll have to put a lot of time and effort into.
2. Clean Up Spills Quickly
Sometimes accidents happen that don’t involve any injuries but could end up leading to some. Spilled drinks can be one of the more notable of these. While these wouldn’t hurt the person who spilled the drink, they risk someone else slipping on them and getting hurt.
You’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen. Go beyond simply putting down a wet floor sign and make sure the spills are cleaned up as quickly as possible. Ideally, you should have this done within a few minutes. Making sure you have a mop and similar items nearby makes sure you can do this.
3. Manage Cords
If you work in an office, you’ll be aware of the multiple cords running through it, spanning phone cables, power cords, and more. What you mightn’t have been aware of is the potential for accidents these can entail. They increase the likelihood of workplace accidents more than you’d think.
At least, that’s only if they’re not properly managed and are kept running around anywhere and everywhere. You’ll need to make sure they’re out of the way so people don’t risk tripping over them. Having these running along the walls rather than the floor, for example, can be a great way to prevent workplace accidents related to them.
4. Promote Safety Awareness
Everyone in your workplace should know about potential safety threats and how they can avoid them. They mightn’t know this without you putting some effort into educating them, so it’s worth doing this as much as possible. Promoting safety awareness is an effective way of doing this.
Start by giving your employees a safety training session so they’re aware of what they should and shouldn’t do to keep safe. Follow this up with a handbook outlining all safety requirements in your workplace. It could also be worth having regular training sessions so employees are as aware of potential hazards as possible.
5. Keep Walkways Clear
Cords aren’t the only thing you’ll need to worry about when it comes to clutter. You’ll need to consider walkways and what could cause any accidents. Clutter could cause employees to fall and get hurt, which you’ll naturally want to avoid. You’d be surprised by how often this could happen if it’s left unchecked.
Take the time to remove any obstructions on walkways to make sure this doesn’t happen. It’s also worth encouraging employees to keep this area as clutter-free as possible. By being proactive about this, you can get it done without much effort. You’ll risk far fewer accidents because of it.
Prevent Workplace Accidents: Wrapping Up
You’ll need to put a lot of effort into preventing workplace accidents. It’s not only a legal obligation, but a moral and ethical one. Thankfully, it doesn’t need to be as difficult as you might think.
By promoting safety awareness, cleaning up spills quickly, having a safety plan, and using a few other best practices, you can prevent workplace accidents much better than you’d think. While they’ll all need a bit of time and effort, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t put the effort in.
