Businesses need to know how to make a safe environment for their employees and customers alike. Failure to take on this kind of duty is a hazard waiting to happen. Not only can the employees suffer as a result, but also the business. So what steps can businesses make to making a safer workplace for all workers? Read on.
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Signage
Even if no other steps are taken, this needs to be the one that happens. Visual signs communicate to people there is a threat. Even if it doesn’t stop them entering the area where the hazard exists, they are still aware of it. That awareness makes them more likely to counter any potential threats by being careful. Signage and the placement of signage are especially important factors to consider. Your sign can be informative and easy to understand, but it won’t matter if it’s placed out of the way. Make sure the signs can be seen.
Take Responsibility
Don’t expect someone else to do the work. As an individual and as a business, you’ll need to make the effort to increase safety in the workplace. If you see a wet floor, try and find something to mark where it is so people can avoid it. Otherwise, someone could slip and hurt themselves quite badly. If you have been injured in such a fall, contact David Resnick & Associates, P.C for legal representation in any court proceedings.
Collective Accountability
All employees should just think when it comes to potential health and safety issues. Health and safety are collective issues, not only for the individual. If there is a hazard that you see, you can try doing something about it. It can be as simple as moving a box out of the way, or moving a loose wire. If everybody were to pass by those hazards and do nothing about it, eventually somebody would injure themselves because of it.
Proper Risk Assessment
Upper management knows to know all the emergent risks in their business. They then need to plan accordingly to manage those risks. A risk assessment will break down every potential situation where an accident could happen. Why do risk assessments need to happen? To keep employees safe, but also to reduce liability if something does go wrong. It might sound like they are only looking out for the business. The reduced liability is merely symptomatic of a safer working environment where employees are educated on risk.
Use Your Head
Sometimes the obvious answers are the best ones. If there are health and safety hazards with a quick and simple fix, do it. Don’t spend time formulating policy or doing a full risk assessment. Just make it safer by taking proactive measures. If there looks like there will be an issue of carrying lots of hot drinks across the office, get a tea tray to make it easier. If the computer or phone wires are a mess after a day of work, make sure they are ordered before leaving the building. It’s easy when you think about it.
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