Why It’s Essential You Set Up A Proper Safety Plan For The Workplace

There are a lot of different risks to the safety of your employees. As an employer, it is your obligation to protect them from these risks as much as possible. Failing to do so doesn’t only hurt the employee. Worker’s compensation and lawsuits can hurt your finances, too. Neglecting your duties to your staff can also have a big impact on morale and motivation. These are just some of the reasons a real safety plan is necessary. Here are some of the key factors you need to consider as part of that safety plan.

Creating the best environment

Safety starts with a normal day and how your employees work. Repetitive strain injury and carpal tunnel can strike employees from seemingly out of nowhere. Look at the long-term risks of the workplace furniture and equipment. Changing them to more ergonomic kinds and giving employees breaks from them are both essential.

Getting the right training

With the different risks in the office, you need to make sure at least two of your employees are always trained in how to deal with them. For example, fire marshals qualified to know how to deal with different kinds of fires. If no-one is trained in dealing with electrical faults, then they shouldn’t touch them, either.

Spotting risks

Something that every employee should be trained in, however, is the identification of risks. Hold regular briefings on things like fire risks. Identify those such as combustibles near electrical equipment or faulty/overworked electrics. It’s a good idea that your employees have an idea of all the different risks they might face. When you stop reminding them of them, that’s when they’re most at risk. It might be a good idea to appoint a safety officer amongst them to be specifically focused on spotting hazards.

Evacuation

In the cases of fire or other risks, you may sometimes need to evacuate the office. Make sure that drills on evacuation are done often. Calling the alarm, the evacuation process and what to do if trapped should all be covered. Then make sure your evacuation space is kept safe. Keep the walkways clear and consider fitting security measures like Rapix emergency lighting. Emergencies can cut off the power, so it’s important your employees always have a clear path.

Testing needs to be a priority

Both the chances of an emergency and how you deal with them are both heavily influenced by testing the equipment in the office. For example, many business owners are not aware that fire extinguishers need regular maintenance. Then there’s the importance of having safety checks done on all the electrical equipment in your workplace. With the right safety audits, you can severely reduce the risk of a dangerous incident.

Safety starts with just a regular work day and what you do to look after employees. Then it’s about the risks that can interrupt that regular day. How you prepare for them, deal with them and evade them. We hope the points above help you pinpoint the elements for inclusion in your own plan.