Increasing safety in the workplace

Are you a business owner or in charge of a workforce? Lower your risks with these simple ways to increase safety in your workplace.

Accidents can always happen in the workplace, whether it’s a high risk, or low risk type of environment. Taking the time to introduce further safety measures and preventative actions can significantly decrease the incidents and make your workplace safer. Specialist legal practices like Turner Freeman Lawyers understand the importance of workplace safety and can help highlight the areas of law that apply to your workplace and employees. For some simple tips on how to make a change, however, keep reading.

Workstations

Take time to pause and stretch

In an office environment, continuous sitting and facing a computer screen can have long-term effects on your workers. By properly setting up workstations now, you can prevent sustained injuries over a long period. Improper sitting posture can cause prolonged back issues. Many talk about workstation ergonomics: desks should be set up according to body type, shape, physical attributes and ailments, and duties. Employees should take time to properly set up their workstations, and incorporate short movements and stretch breaks into their schedules. Short walks can break up the day and also make employees more alert.

Stress

Keep on top of stress, both physical and mental

As much as physical ailments and incidents can happen in the workplace, mental strains can be just as hazardous. When employees are under too much stress, the mental strain can cause a lack of attention and possible physical safety risks. Employees should take time to clear their minds to relieve themselves of the stressful tasks they are undertaking. Staff should be encouraged in their daily duties and understand that they have flexibility to become both mentally and physically safe. Stress can impact an employee’s performance and attitude in the workplace, which can then initiate other risks and possible incidents.

Training

Training should be given to all staff upon commencement of their position. Safety training alerts staff to the possible hazards in the particular workplace and the actions they must take to act safely. Because safety training can get pushed to the back of the mind when all other workplace training comes in, you should conduct follow-up sessions for all staff in interim periods. This will ensure that the information is constantly updated and kept relevant to your staff members’ minds. Job specific safety training is also important, especially for staff with more physically demanding roles than others. Employees should know the proper duty of care to perform their tasks safely and efficiently.

To ensure hazardous materials are properly managed, consider using chemical storage cabinets to store chemicals securely and prevent accidents.

Customise

If asked, most employees will know basic safety procedures and understand to take care in the workplace. When conducting training, customise the safety demonstrations in a way that is current and applicable to the location. Scenarios should be relevant and incorporate the duties that your staff undertakes. By making the information current and appropriate, staff will be able to take the material and use it in their daily tasks. They will be able to better identify possible hazards and alert you to them.

Increasing safety in the workplace rests on information sharing and informing staff of proper procedures. When the workforce knows the risks and knows how to act safely, safety is increased. Training staff upon commencement and periodically afterwards is the simplest way to increase workplace safety that does not involve too much time, or unnecessary costs.