Business owners often believe that their primary duty is to ensure that their venture is as successful as possible. But that’s not the case. While it’s easy to take it for granted, a business’s first responsibility is ensuring that everyone connected to the business is kept safe.
That concept extends to customers and guests, but in practical terms, the focus is mostly on the employees of the business. After all, they’re the ones who spend the most time at the facility. In this post, we’ll run through the importance of employee safety, as well as outline some of the key steps that lead to high safety credentials.
Why is Employee Safety Important?
Ensuring that your employees are safe while at work takes time, effort, and, in some cases, money. Yet it’s a necessary step. For one thing, businesses simply have a moral obligation to keep their workers safe when they’re at work.
There are also business-related motivations for minimizing incidents in the workplace. A single-employee accident can impact staff morale, resulting in decreased productivity and perhaps an exodus of employees. Businesses that are known to have recurring employee accidents will also suffer damage to their reputation, which may impact sales.
OK, with that in mind, let’s look at how businesses can make sure their employees are safe and sound while at work.
Understanding The Risks
No two workplaces are the same. Before you can figure out how to improve safety in the workplace, you need to understand what the existing threats are. In some instances, these safety dangers will be obvious. In others, they may be more difficult to spot. It’s easy to see how a warehouse that is overly cluttered could result in an accident. It’s less easy to see how an employee could suffer an injury through repeated exposure to work hazards (for example, poor circulation which results in dusty air).
If you’re in a new workplace, it’s recommended to work with a safety advisor. They’ll be able to identify threats that you are unable to see.
Investing in Infrastructure
A workplace needs to have safety equipment that serves the safety of the employees. There are some safety items that all businesses need to have onsite. For example, a fire extinguisher, first aid kit, and emergency lighting. Then there’s the equipment that’s specific to the individual business. For example, businesses in the industrial sector may need to invest in an emergency stop switch, personal protective equipment, and safety monitoring equipment. It’s important that all safety materials are periodically checked to be in full working condition, and replaced if any defects are found.
The safest businesses are the ones where employees are involved in the safety process. For example, staff should feel comfortable telling management if they notice that an item of equipment is not working as efficiently as it used to.
Employee Training
Your employees will be on the front line of workplace safety. As we said above, it’ll be best if workers are involved in the safety process. But remember that it’ll be the quality of the training they receive that determines how safe the workplace is. Workers should receive thorough safety training when they first join the team or if new equipment and working processes are implemented. Your employees should also receive refresher courses periodically, even if there haven’t been any workplace safety incidents.
Response Management
All businesses suffer employee injuries from time to time. In the vast majority of cases, these injuries are simply minor, requiring no treatment or time off work. However, even though it may seem unnecessary if the injury was minor, it’s important to respond to these issues seriously. By looking at how a minor injury occurred, businesses can help prevent more serious injuries from occurring in the future.
Ongoing Improvements
There’s never a point at which a workplace is completely safe. To ensure that employees are kept safe while at work, businesses should invest time to periodically review and improve their safety procedures in line with the overall standards of the industry.
The Impact of Fatigue on Workplace Incidents
Finally, keep in mind that employees are much more likely to suffer an injury if they’re overworked and overtired. As such, it’s important for businesses to monitor staffing levels to ensure that workers are not working a potentially dangerous number of hours a week. It’s also important to enforce employee breaks. Studies have shown that taking a series of mini-breaks — even just a few minutes — can help to keep employees fresh and fatigue-free.