A good employer is always looking for new ways to improve the workplace. As an employer, you know how important your employees are to your business. It’s essential to keep both the workplace and your employees safe at all times.
During the hiring and training process, all employees should be taught about workplace safety. However, this doesn’t mean that their safety training should stop there. Workplace safety is something that’s evolving on a consistent basis and changing based on new equipment and procedures.
Knowing some of the best workplace safety tips can help give you a jumpstart to enforcing workplace safety and knowing how to make workplaces safer. Always keep workplace safety ideas in mind and be open to accepting new ideas as well. In the guide below, you’ll find several great ideas for how to stay safe at work that you should share with your employees.
Continue reading to learn more.
Keep Records
Keeping records is not only a great way to stay on top of workplace safety hazards, but it’s also a requirement of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). There are OSHA forms you’re most likely aware of that need to be filled out each time an employee is injured while on the job.
Although in most cases it’s the law, you should want to keep these records for yourself as well. Keeping records of different injuries on the job helps you detect a variety of workplace hazards. You can then correct these hazards before someone else also becomes injured.
Review Ladder Safety
In many workplaces, ladders are used for a variety of reasons. Whether employees require a ladder to complete their job or whether they use a ladder to reach something, it’s important that everyone reviews ladder safety on a regular basis. The first step to remaining safe while using a ladder is understanding which ladder is ideal for the type of work that’ll be done while standing on it.
All employees should then be taught ladder safety best practices. Everyone should know how to inspect a ladder, properly set it up, how to safely stand on a ladder, maintain it, and more. It’s also a good idea to go over some of the things to avoid while using a ladder as well.
Prevent Dehydration
High temperatures in the workplace can negatively affect your employees. If they’re not taught how to safely work in the heat and prevent dehydration, then their health is at risk. If you have an employee who isn’t used to working in these conditions, then you’ll want to gradually expose them to the heat.
It’s also a great idea to create a buddy system. All employees should also be reminded to drink plenty of water throughout their shift. Making water fountains accessible to your employees is beneficial for everyone.
Don’t forget to encourage employees to wear sun-protecting clothing and sunscreen as well.
Make Small Office Changes
Sometimes, workplace hazards require more simple fixes than you might think. When your workplace isn’t ergonomic, it can lead to employee injuries. Creating or improving workplace ergonomics is a simple and fairly inexpensive fix.
All employees should be taught about proper posture while standing and sitting at a desk. You should ensure all monitors and keyboards are at the proper height for each employee. Employees should know how to adjust their desk chairs to the proper height also.
When an employee sits at a desk for an extended period of time each day without an ergonomic workstation, they can suffer from neck pain, back pain, and more.
Encourage Regular Breaks
As an employer, you need to encourage regular breaks. It’s important that employees are utilizing their breaks each day. When employees are overworked, they become tired and more likely to make small errors on the job that can cause injuries.
When you’re tired and hungry, you’re not as aware of your surroundings. Taking breaks can give employees the opportunity to refresh their bodies and brains. You can even consider advising them to start their day with the more difficult tasks to give themselves less work at the end of the day when they’re more tired.
Know the Emergency Exits
Do you and all your employees know where the emergency exits are located? Do you have an emergency plan in place for all employees to follow? You need to be aware of the emergency exits and ensure you’re employees are aware of them too.
It’s essential to provide clear and bright signs for each emergency exit. Your emergency plan should be discussed with your employees on a regular basis to instill it into their minds. In case of an emergency, your employees should know exactly what to do and where to go.
Keep the Workstation Clean
A clean workstation can help prevent workplace injuries. Any unnecessary items in the workstation should be removed. If there are ever any spills in the workplace, then you’ll want your employees to understand the importance of cleaning their workstations.
However, all employees should understand the difference between a spill they can clean up themselves and one that should be reported to management immediately. Any hazardous spills should be cleaned by a hazardous waste cleanup company. More information about these companies can be found at this link: http://www.hcienv.com/hazardous-waste-disposal-101-what-do-hazardous-waste-cleanup-companies-do.
Do make sure that your employees know they’re welcomed and encouraged to report any and all workplace hazards to you or management as soon as possible.
Take These Workplace Safety Tips Seriously
All of these workplace safety tips should be taken seriously at all times. It’s also important to note that this list is not exhaustive. Use these helpful workplace safety ideas and tips to jumpstart your workplace safety improvement place.
Then, be sure to review all aspects of the workplace to ensure any hazards are addressed and removed. If you’re looking for more interesting business topics, be sure to check back here often.
