Proper safety is one of the most important aspects of running an effective business. If you ignore health and safety guidelines, your company could suffer.
The obvious problems are that your employees could get hurt or even killed. This is understandably terrible for morale because people don’t want to risk their health for a job if they don’t need to. It could also lead to legal problems, such as lawsuits, especially if your company is found negligent or otherwise responsible.
So, to protect your employees and your company, it’s important to focus on health and safety from the get-go. Here are some tips to help you improve safety in the workplace.
1. The Right Attitude
When it’s not taken seriously, health and safety can be seen as a punchline. Some people see it as red tape that just makes work less efficient and more difficult. However, health and safety standards and guidelines are more than just an attempt to cross t’s and dot i’s.
Simply put, if you don’t take health and safety seriously, you can’t expect your employees to. Whether this is pressuring employees to do things that don’t feel safe in order to shave off a bit of time, or it’s just a case of ignoring infractions as long as nothing bad happens in the moment.
You need to set the right example. Don’t let minor infractions slide without correction, because that can quickly lead to more serious problems.
2. Proper Personal Protective Equipment
One of the most important ways to encourage a good attitude toward safety is by requiring and even providing personal protective equipment, or PPE. PPE looks different in different workplaces.
In a lab environment, the appropriate PPE might be a lab coat, safety glasses, a face mask, and gloves. Whereas in a construction site, your workers should wear high visibility clothing, a hard hat, steel toe-capped boots, along with safety glasses and different gloves.
You also need to consider local laws and regulations. You should ensure that your employees are at least wearing the PPE that they’re required to wear by law, but you can go the extra mile as well.
Finally, PPE might change according to the jobs that your employees are doing as well as the specific hazards that are present. For example, construction workers might also need face masks and ear defenders if they’re in loud or very dusty areas.
3. Controlling Environmental Hazards
As well as protecting your employees by providing PPE, you can also do what you can to control the environment and reduce the hazards there. Some equipment is designed to get rid of hazards. The important thing in this case is to go to the right supplier, such as a fume hood manufacturer when you’re trying to ventilate a laboratory area.
Another piece of equipment that can be helpful for this is scaffolding and harnesses for people who have to work at heights, rather than relying on ladders which aren’t as stable.
This makes hazardous areas safer for your employees and, in addition to the right PPE, ensures that they are less likely to get injured while on the job.
Another important way to reduce the hazards in an environment is by reducing the amount of people who access that area. Use signs to tell people what hazards are present, especially if they are invisible hazards like high voltage or certain gases.
You can also use signs and fences to block off areas to unauthorized people, or to tell people that they need to wear specific PPE in order to enter. This is especially important in dangerous areas like construction sites, because you don’t want visitors, members of the public, or unqualified workers to enter these dangerous areas and potentially get hurt.
4. Proper Training
Speaking of qualified and unqualified workers, you need to ensure that every one of your employees has the right training and qualifications for their job role, especially if they are using specialized equipment.
Without proper training, your employees could get injured or potentially injure themselves. They might also end up breaking the equipment or slowing down the work process.
Sometimes it’s a legal requirement for workers in certain positions to have the right certifications and qualifications. Forklift operators usually need to have a specific certification, for example. Make sure that you check what certifications are needed for each role before allowing workers to do it, even if they technically know how to do it.
You can also train people on the job, although if you want to train employees for a specific qualification, you might need to get trainers in. This is a great way to gain new apprentices, as you can train them while they’re in education and build a rapport with them.
5. Safe and Appropriate Equipment
Speaking of equipment, you need to ensure that your equipment is appropriate for the job at hand. It should also be well-maintained and always in good working order.
If equipment breaks, it can slow down a job and, in some cases, even be dangerous. Regular maintenance might slow things down temporarily, but it prevents sudden breakdowns and can save a lot of time and money on repairs or replacements.
6. A Clean and Tidy Worksite
One thing that can go unnoticed is the need to keep the worksite clean and tidy. This prevents unnecessary hazards due to falls and slips. Encourage your employees to tidy up after themselves and keep walkways clear of debris and tools.
Another thing to consider is hygiene. While some jobs are inherently dirtier than others, encouraging good hygiene and allowing employees to take time off when they’re sick keeps your employees much healthier. This, in turn, makes your workplace more productive.
7. Emergency and Evacuation Procedures
Finally, even the safest workplace can have an emergency, either due to a fire or a natural disaster. In this case, it’s a good idea to create an emergency evacuation plan in advance and assign workers to different roles.
This way, your employees can react quickly in the event of an emergency, keeping themselves as safe as possible.
