Health and safety in the workplace is ever-changing to encompass more and more risks and hazards as the way we work changes. As a business owner, reducing health and safety risks should be a top priority and making sure all of your staff and premises adhere to the most recent guidelines and regulations is a must.
During the day to day running of your company, it is vital to keep on top of any health and safety incidents and avoid accidents in your workplace as much as possible.
Staff Training
Thorough and extensive staff training for every member of your team regularly is the best way to ensure they are aware of the health and safety regulations they need to follow and identify and rectify any hazards they cause or come across during their working day. Engage staff members by mixing up your training and making it as interactive as you can to make sure everyone is clear on what they should and shouldn’t be doing.
Risk Assessments
Carrying out regular risk assessments is the best way to identify any areas of concern. Watch how your staff work and interact with each other and customers and look for ways to become a danger to others around them.
Focus on the building itself, is rubbish strewn on the floor someone could slip on or are spills neglected. How about damaged equipment machinery? How could this pose a threat to users, and what would the outcome be should someone hurt themselves using it.
Safety Equipment
Make sure everyone is fully trained to do the job they are employed to do. This will help you to reduce the number of accidents or damages that occurred due to improper use. Limit who can use machinery or equipment that needs special training use and ensure all staff have refresher courses to ensure they have the best knowledge and skills in the future.
Supply safety equipment such as gloves, goggles, hi-vis vest and jackets and safety footwear along with anything else that will enable your staff to do their job properly. This includes making any office space or till areas as ergonomic as possible to reduce strain and injury.
Avoid Being Understaffed
Staff sickness leads to a staffing shortage and extra pressure being placed on other staff members. Noticing regular patterns on staff shortages and identifying potential issues can help you avoid putting added pressure on the staff members. Putting too much pressure and increasing workloads and shift times can lead to mistakes and injuries.
Work with your team to find a way to reduce this impact on everyone to avoid causing more issues and problems in the future. While it may be fine for a day or two to be short-staffed, ongoing issues can lead to demoralised staff and affect productivity and efficiency, which isn’t good for your business or staff morale.
Keeping on top of health and safety in the workplace can be a full-time job and isn’t something that should be covered once to then never be discussed again. The more informed your team is on potential health and safety issues, the better they can make sure these risks are reduced or eliminated.
