Did you know every seven seconds someone gets injured at work? If you are an employer and want to prevent accidents, we can help you with our guide.
Are you wondering how to keep your workplace healthy and safe? Not to worry! In this guide, we’ll go over workplace health and safety tips to create a safe work environment.
Want to learn more about managing workplace health and safety? Keep reading for our insights into achieving a healthier and safer work space.
Start a Safety Program at Work
You will want to create a workplace health and safety program, even if you have a small work team. Create policies, budgeting, and procedures for your program.
Healthy and safe workers are more productive and dedicated. Make sure you follow OSHA guidelines.
Your program should fit your work culture and company. The main goal should be to help your team decrease work hazards.
Analyze Your Worksite
An analysis of your workplace will help you identify hazards or unsafe conditions. Research common hazards in your industry.
Create a team dedicated to safety. Encourage employees to report any workplace hazards or to notify a supervisor.
Develop a system to report any hazards. Make sure you hire trained personnel to perform inspections. Get help from safety and health experts.
Keep Your Workspace Clutter-Free
Walkthrough your workspace every day and watch out for spills or scattered objects. Otherwise, people could trip or fall. Make sure your workspace is fresh and clean. Keep aisles clear of chairs or boxes, so people don’t get hurt.
Provide Proper Protection
Employees who use industrial power tools will need to wear the right work gear. Make sure they have the proper protective equipment and shoes for their work.
Medical professionals need PPE to stay protected while working in hospitals and clinics. Industrial workers will need protection from different hazards. Equip workers with sturdy work gear if they work in the automotive industry.
Consider your industry and research what protective gear you need to pick up. Make sure you have extras of all protective equipment.
Complete Safety Training
Employees may have completed training for their role when they first got hired. Did they finish workplace safety in a comprehensive manner? Make sure everyone understands the worksite policies and procedures.
You’ll want to provide safety training classes. The course will help your team understand how to spot new hazards and provide feedback. Your employees will also know the importance of watching for incidents.
ACLS online courses are especially useful since they are practical, and enable employees to address a number of conditions, including sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), acute coronary syndromes, and stroke recognition.
Offer refresher courses later in the year.
Encourage Workplace Safety
Employees aren’t the only ones at work who need to take an active role. You will create safety initiatives, but you need to participate as well. Encourage your senior management and superiors to take part.
To put in place a safety-focused culture, you need to lead the way. When leadership gets involved, employees will follow. You will need to attend the training sessions.
You can take extra measures like holding an emergency preparedness drill. Offer more training to help support your team so they can learn new operations. Make sure there are certain people authorized for hazardous jobs.
Train your managers and supervisors to notice new hazards.
Communicate With OSHA
Make sure you stay up to date with regulations from OSHA. If you’re a small business, you can check out a voluntary compliance program. The agency will offer free health and safety training along with technical help.
Keep Procedures and Policies Updated
You can keep your team safe by updating your work policies and procedures. Keep them in one location. You can send out electronic memos for any new updates. This way, everyone will stay informed.
You could use an electronic management system to give workers easy access. Having an electronic copy will be easy for you to show inspectors.
Get Your Team Involved
Employees will need to work together to keep the workplace safe and healthy. Encourage your employees to stay involved, so your work culture remains safe.
Make sure you hold people accountable. Create an active workplace safety and health committee.
Conduct daily safety inspections. Inform employees about injury and illness stats and safety inspections.
Make sure you listen and value your team's feedback and input. Sometimes, employees will know more about safety solutions and problems compared to managers.
Ask employees to provide feedback on how to improve the program.
How Will You Deal With Hazards?
You’ll want to create a plan to deal with the different hazards in your workplace. Do you need to pick up safety equipment? Buy the new equipment right away.
Are there necessary changes you need to make to lower hazards? Make the changes and let your team know.
You might also need to complete regular maintenance on work equipment. Otherwise, the health of the safety of your team could get affected.
You may need to inspect the machinery often. Staff and maintenance professionals can inspect the machinery.
Make sure you highlight workplace safety. This way, you’ll boost the morale of your employees and create a safe working environment. You’ll also protect your company from expensive lawsuits.
Dealing With Emergencies
You can never predict an emergency. Yet, you will want to have a procedure in place to protect your team and visitors.
Watch out for natural disasters and keep an eye out on the weather channel and social media sites.
Keep your insurance up to date. Keep working hard to identify any risks in your workplace.
Work with your management team and create an emergency plan. Make sure your team has completed the Emergency Response and Evacuation Training program.
Now You Know More About Workplace Health and Safety
We hope you found this guide on workplace safety helpful. Take the time to create a thorough system for your small business.
Make workplace health and safety a priority and set a good example. Host workplace health and safety sessions throughout the year.
Keep browsing our other helpful resources on marketing, startups, and more. Visit the HR and Startups sections of the Bootstrap Business Blog right now to learn more about improving your workplace.
