Just stop and reflect on how often and in what particular ways you are working towards workplace safety for your employees? Do you discuss it monthly? Annually? Quarterly? If you wish to reduce injuries at the workplace, you need to make workplace safety an essential part of the company culture. The first step towards it would be understanding the root cause of the gravest workplace injuries and then constantly surveying the workplace for potential safety hazards in work design and equipment.
Consulting with occupational health experts is, by far, one of the most quintessential ways to gain insight into injury prevention. After you have acquired a clearer picture of all the primary hot spots in your workplace safety, you are all set to engage with the employees to enlist their support in creating a company culture where safety is at the top of the mind.
So here are some of the tips to help you get started.
10 Tips for Workplace Safety | Train your employees well
Comprehensive training is pivotal for preventing any injury at the workplace. You need to ensure that all the employees in your office have complete safety training for their positions.
Reward or appreciate the employees for safe behaviour
One of the easiest ways to encourage workplace safety is by handing over rewards. So, every time someone takes due care of their safety or follows due safety policies, they give them proper bonuses. It will keep them engaged and make a massive difference in reducing the number of workplace injuries. Shazia who provides assignment help says, she and her colleagues get rewarded every time they take due measures for their safety.
Collaborate with the occupational clinicians
Occupational medical clinicians offer valuable insight into workplace injury and prevention. These clinicians can visit your workplace and do a lot to prevent work injuries. Their role is to identify the areas, which are more likely to cause employee injury. Occupational and physical therapists, too, can make the workplace more ergonomic. They will formulate individual performance evaluations, and help you with the screening of the candidates who need to engage in roles, which are physically demanding. These therapists will also assist in the return-to-work process. Studies prove that workplace safety programs can lower the risk of injuries at workplace by 50%.
Make good use of signs and labels.
Though inexpensive, signs and labels are one of the cheapest and most effective ways to communicate vital information. They are simple and primarily rely on the pictures to give out information on proper procedures and detailed hazards. The tools are one of the best reminders and warnings that seem helpful for even the most experienced workers. Sonya, an online tutor says, they have signs and notices listed everywhere, and she feels there’s no better safety measure than this one.
Try to keep the area clean.
A messy environment at the workplace can pave the way for a lot of unnecessary accidents. So, do ensure that you stack all the boxes in an orderly manner, and you get the spills cleaned.
Furthermore, you should engage in regular inspections. It will help examine the potential dangers of the workplace, such as disorganized tools, tangled cords, and messy floors. Perform repetitive de-clutter measures to clear out the mess.
Ensure that the employees have the necessary tools and regular equipment inspections are undertaken
The right equipment and tools create a safer and a better work environment. It is also pivotal to ensure that all the equipment is serviced, cleaned, and inspected regularly. One of the most dangerous workplace hazards would be machine malfunctions. So, be very careful about that too.
Encourage stress breaks at work.
Following a study conducted by the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, Overexertion is the number one cause of workplace injury. It costs businesses approximately $14 billion a year. Jason, an executive employee of EduWorldUSA who provide “do my economics homework” says that in their workspace, there’s due emphasis on the stretch breaks. These are the best possible ways to improve employee health and workplace ergonomics.
Only taking a 5-minute break to stretch can go a long way in easing the joints and muscle tension. It also reduces the potential for repetitive motion injuries. As opposed to passive stretching, active movement is indeed more beneficial.
Implement the safety protocols right from the start
Safety at the workplace starts from day one itself. It means it is essential to hire qualified people who give due attention to detail. Safety at the workplace begins with employees who follow adequate safety requirements and perform their jobs as per the prescribed procedures.
A few employers work together with the physical therapists to understand the physical demands for every role in the office. This understanding does help create functional job analysis and pre-placement functional tests.
Maintain an open dialogue
Stanley, a young associate, says that what he loves about his workplace, TrumpLearning, is that his boss and HR are so approachable when it comes to safety and health concerns. The environment at the workplace should be such that the employees can reach out to you for hazards or when they identify any potential area of concern.
In addition to it, you could hire a safety captain who can immediately communicate the concerns of the employees to the seniors.
Have regular meetings
Lastly, it never hurts to be more prepared than required. So, conduct weekly or monthly meetings on workplace safety so that everyone in the office knows the plan of action when something happens.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, 6000 people die in a day because of workplace injuries around the world. To prevent this, you need to abide by the regulations set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for workplace safety. Moreover, if businesses do not comply with these guidelines, they might have to pay a fine of $1028 as fine.