Career, Business & Money

Building Safety Nets for Success with Health and Safety at Work

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Health and safety at work are two of those issues that crops up all the time. It is so important because neglecting safety can cause injuries (or worse!). This is damaging to employees, your business, and even yourself as a business owner or founder. From employee awareness to safety teams, here are some ideas.

Upgrade Existing Equipment

Pretty much every business relies on equipment. From desktop computers to full-scale manufacturing machines, there are potentially hazardous items at every company. There are health and safety basics that are mostly common sense, like not drinking water on your desktop PC. But what about more specific awareness? For example, upgrading to new commercial grain bunkers will help reduce incidents since they are far more safe due to less time fitting tarps!

Make Employees More Aware

Most health and safety problems can be avoided with simple methods. For example, the classic health and safety at work poster might be cheesy. However, it lays out a framework for avoiding the most common problems at a workplace, such as leaving bags under desks or entering industrial areas without high visibility. Simple methods really work and make employees more aware of the dangers of seemingly benign workplaces, branding health and safety into the brain.

Health and Safety at Work Responsibilities

People get hurt at work all the time. In Australia alone, there are almost 500,000 incidents each year. Health and safety at work employer’s responsibilities begin as soon as someone enters the premises. Business operations rely on safety. So you are responsible for ensuring everything is as safe as possible. Yet employees share a commitment to not be stupid! But even then, they may only do something risky if they aren’t made aware of the dangers they can face.

a man inspecting the house interior

Appoint a Safety Team or Officer

Sometimes posters and common sense aren’t enough! So, how can you enhance safety in the workplace? One answer is to appoint a team or an individual and charge them with the management of health and safety at work regulations. Of course, they can’t take all the blame when something goes wrong. But a full-time safety officer or team can work hard on ensuring the place is as safe as it possibly can be with inspections, equipment testing and drills.

Education, Training and Seminars

People will be people, and there will always be workplace clowns who do something silly! So who is responsible for safety in the workplace? It is still down to the company to ensure safety is maximized. All employees must be trained to use equipment safely. It also helps to hold seminars about what can go wrong when safety is neglected by employees. And staff must also be educated on reporting incidents, how to evacuate safely and how to handle a situation.

group of people on conference room
Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

Investing in modern equipment will help with health and safety at work, as updated models are typically safer. You can appoint a health and safety team to ensure hazards are reduced. Safety at work will also be enhanced if you train and educate about equipment and safety issues.

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