Workplace Safety – Why is it Important to your business?

Workplace safety involves the well-being of employers and employees in their work environment. Safety measures ensure business success by guaranteeing employee protection from injuries or death.

Often people can be so busy concentrating on productivity and / or speed that safety may not get the daily attention it requires. It is easy to get complacent with activities we are carrying out every day, they can become so second nature that we may forget the dangers they pose, this is when an accident can occur.

To better understand the benefits of diligent safety measures, it is important to learn the basic methods of preventing and minimizing accidents.

1. Identify Health Hazards

As an employer, establish areas of potential risks in the workplace. Work with your employees to find ways of avoiding or minimizing those hazards. Through educative forums, identify an occupational health and safety program that best suits your business.

Implement the policies and evaluate the outcome. For easy implementation of the policies, you can appoint a skilled worker to overlook the daily progress of selected policies.

2. Familiarize all personnel with the environment

Familiarize employees with important places in the company. Make it a habit to have a surroundings awareness program during the recruitment and selection of employees.

As an employer, ensure that entrances and exits are placed at easily accessible locations. Make clear and visible signs and place them at the right positions. This is for easy accessibility during emergencies. You will be surprised what people may do during a panic situation, clear instructions and a well known safety procedure can help to stop any dangers from escalating.

3. Wear protective equipment

Each work station requires its own unique safety gears for proper protection while working. Buy earplugs, helmets, or any other safety equipment that correspond with each job description.

Workers should also be trained on the importance of wearing protective gears at all times when working. Appropriate use of this equipment reduces the severity of injuries during accidents.

Try to minimise the joking and sarcasm surrounding safety equipment, ensure employees know that safety is not a joke and is a serious and non negotiable part of the job description.

4. Reduce Stress at Your Workplace

Overworking and conflicts are the most common sources of stress in workplaces. Ensuring that the employees’ personal and social welfare is catered for tends to reduce their stress levels. Use conflict management techniques that are applicable and workable in your work environment.

Ensure that employees are always sober and alert when undertaking any tasks especially mechanical jobs. Adapt motivation methods that encourage teamwork and increases productivity.

5. Avoid Overexertion

Avoid repetitive lifting or lowering of objects to prevent arm and back injuries. Use ergonomically designed furniture for comfortable sitting postures.

Encourage regular breaks between tasks, this will cost less than sick leave in the long run. Avoid staff repeatedly lifting heavy objects but rather adapt to the use of mechanical assistance where applicable.

6. Discuss Concerns about Unsafe Conditions

Talk about conditions that might lead to injuries with your workers. Encourage regular talks about hazardous surroundings and equipments.

Keep an open dialogue and encourage staff to come to you with any safety concerns they have and thank them for their proactivity.

These views will help in the implementation of effective preventive measures against injuries. Good policies for the institutional health and safety program can also be drafted based on these ideas.

7. Safety Policies and Training

It is important to work together as the employers and employees to draft policies that will safeguard the well-being of all individuals. Offer regular training to educate yourselves on updates to regulation, first aid and your business activities.

Have all policies written down and pinned in strategic positions for easier reference and implementation. Make it a habit to practice safety measures even when accidents are not expected to happen.

Bottom line

Based on the preventive measures stated above, it is now easier to state the importance of workplace safety for overall business success. Safety is achieved by identifying, planning, implementing, and evaluating workplace safety policies.

By having high safety standards not only will you have happier, healthier staff and lower staff turnover and sick days but also many other benefits such as:

Saving on Costs

Accidents bring about unplanned expenses. These expenses range from compensation to hospital bills, equipment fixing, insurance costs and sick days. Accidents have a financial impact on the injured, their immediate family and even the business.

By practicing safe workplace ethics, the business is able to avoid serious financial consequences linked to accidents. The costs saved can be allocated to better profit-making activities.

Prevent injuries or death

There are 3 common workplace injuries;

– Overexertion

– Contact with an object by being struck, caught or crushed

– Slips, trips or falls

By implementing effective workplace safety policies, these injuries can be avoided or minimized.

Safeguard from other consequences

There are government agencies tasked with ensuring that safety procedures are followed in all work places. They also offer training on occupational health and safety as per the laws drafted to guide workplace ethics.

Non-adherence to these laws can lead to court cases or expensive compensation claims. The effect of these is the slowing of regular work activities or even closing of the business.

To be safe from these consequences, businesses should embrace preventive safety measures. The measures involve studying and implementing government policies on all workplace safety procedures.

Better productivity and reputation

Employees that are assured of work safety tend to be more productive. Safety acts as a motivation to drive in more sales hence greater profitability in the business.

Through better business dealings, the company is able to have a good reputation. The reputation leads to increased leads, traffic, and sales.

Workplace safety is an integral part of all businesses. It is, thus, the duty of the management and workers to work on the best policies to keep the workplace safe.