It’s easy for business owners to think that their primary mission is to generate a profit. But it’s not. The first priority is — and should always be — to ensure that the workplace is as safe as possible for staff members, guests, and customers. While it’s unlikely that anything bad will happen, it’s essential that no risks are taken. After all, one incident could spell big trouble for the business, including potentially having it shut down.
Do you need to increase the standard of your workplace safety? Then follow the tips that we’ve outlined below, which will help to severely nudge your site’s safety in the right direction.
Find the Threats
The best way to prevent workplace safety incidents is to minimize the risk of something bad happening. And you can only do that if you know what the threats are. Of course, there’s always the chance that something leftfield will happen, but by and large, incidents will happen due to a threat that, looking back, was obviously always there. So to begin, take a look at your workplace, and work on identifying the things that could be a danger. If you don’t know how to do this, then you can always hire a consultant to do the job for you.
And of course, once you’ve figured out what those threats are, you’ll need to take steps to nullify those threats.
Update Your Training
As we mentioned above, you can’t always prevent something bad from happening. In the event that something goes wrong, your best line of defense will be your staff training. Do your staff know what to do in the event of an emergency? If you’ve only trained them once, way back when they first started with your company, then the answer is probably no. After all, people struggle to remember things that they did last week — remembering something from several years ago is well beyond them. You should update your training every time you change your working processes, and also hold regular safety training throughout the year.
Securing Hazards
It’s not just your working processes that could cause safety concerns. The actual building in which your workplace is located could, too. Many businesses don’t think all that much about their site’s infrastructure, but it’s one of those things that can pose a serious threat to your employees if they’re left unattended. For example, mold can pose a threat to their health. Electrical components that aren’t secured with din rail enclosures may pose a threat of electrocution, or perhaps even fire. Moving forward, take a closer look at your workplace, and make sure that every aspect is as safe and secure as it should be.
Implement Wellness Programs
The workplace can pose various threats to employees. For example, it can also impact their physical and mental wellness, especially over a long timeframe. A good employer will ensure that their staff’s mental and physical well-being is a top priority. And in fact, this can have a positive impact on the business as a whole, too — employees are more likely to stay with a business that values their well-being. There are multiple ways for employers to do this, for example by encouraging stretching breaks, providing gym equipment, and allowing for mental health days. All of these things, as well as anything you can come up with, will ensure that your team feels supported physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Speak to Your Employees
You’ll have a pretty good understanding of the threats within your workplace. But you won’t know all of them, and that’s because you won’t be working closely in all sections of your workplace. You can’t see everything! That’s why it’s important to speak to your employees and gather their thoughts and opinions about safety at your site. They may have noticed things that you hadn’t or couldn’t. And, of course, once you have that feedback, it’ll be important to take it on board and make adjustments based on what they’ve told you.
Take Incidents Seriously
Finally, remember that no matter what steps you take, there’s always a chance that there’ll be some sort of workplace incident or injury at your business. Hopefully, it will be only a mild incident that has no negative consequences. But even if it is, it’s essential that you take the matter seriously. It may not have resulted in a serious injury this time, but who knows about next time? Investigate the causes of the incident, and take steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
