Business owners take on a lot of responsibility. They must oversee marketing tasks, pay employees, keep the premises clean, and more. However, keeping workers safe remains the most important job the owner has. It is easy to overlook safety hazards, particularly those that develop slowly. How can a business owner prevent accidents? What steps can be taken to mitigate risks?
Employee Training
Well-trained employees look for risks and work to mitigate them. Every employee must know what is expected of them when it comes to health and safety in the workplace. In addition, if an employee sees a potential problem, they alert the employer. They should also be familiar with industrial safety products and how to use them.
An employer can take this a step further and offer wellness programs. These programs encourage the physical and mental health of employees. When an employer makes wellness a priority in the workplace, employee productivity increases. Workers are more alert and responsive.
Risk Assessments
Employers need to conduct regular risk assessments. Each assessment helps determine which risks and hazards are present. It goes beyond this, however, and provides information about how each hazard or risk could do harm, and what steps are needed to minimize the risk or hazard. Companies must conduct these assessments regularly or find themselves in legal trouble.
Employees must also work to reduce hazards and risks in the workplace. They must always be aware of their surroundings and report potential hazards and risks to the employer. In addition, employees should always be looking for ways to reduce and eliminate hazards. If any employee is able to do so, they should implement the methods they find. If they cannot, the information needs to be shared with the employer.
Clean Signage
Employers need to post signs throughout the workplace that highlight proper safety procedures. For example, in areas where spills are common, there should be a sign outlining the steps to use when cleaning up spills. Door signs in manufacturing plants should remind workers to wear protective gear.
Safe Lifting Techniques
Employees must know how to lift heavy objects safely. They need to start from a position of power and keep the load near the body. A staggered stance is best when lifting heavy objects, and the person should never twist their body as they lift. Employees who undergo training in body mechanics find they can reduce the number of injuries suffered when lifting heavy objects.
Personal Protective Equipment
When people hear the acronym PPE, they automatically think of COVID and the masks people wore during the global pandemic. However, countless individuals wear PPE daily as they carry out their work duties. This equipment is used to minimize exposure to known hazards in the workplace. A person might wear a hard hat, a face mask, or reflective clothing as part of their PPE.
Research shows PPE effectively reduces workplace injuries. Most workers who suffered head injuries were not wearing hard hats, and 99 percent of workers who sustained face injuries lacked the recommended PPE. Every worker must have access to the necessary PPE and use it regularly to improve worker safety.
Employers must make safety a priority in the workplace. Failure to do so could lead to fines, lawsuits, and more. Implement the above tips today to see an immediate improvement in safety. However, this must be an ongoing process for the best results.
