As a business owner, you have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders.
For example, not only are you responsible for steering your business toward success, but you must also actively implement ways to improve workplace safety and ensure the health and well-being of your employees is protected. Otherwise, you’ll encounter a range of challenges, from workplace accidents to court cases – all of which can easily throw your business off kilter.
As such, you should always be on the lookout for ways to improve safety standards within your workplace. This way, you’ll know that you’re doing everything you possibly can to protect your team. Read on to find out more!
Here Are 9 Ways to Improve Workplace Safety:
1. Start with good training
According to a recent study, around 70% of workplace accidents are the product of human error. This means that they are easily avoided, especially through providing your team with comprehensive safety training during onboarding. After all, this means they are familiar with the safety practices they must uphold in their day-to-day work, even if they have not previously worked in a similar role.
However, you should not consider the job done following onboarding training. Instead, you should offer supplementary training on an annual basis, or whenever you introduce new practices or equipment. This way, you are leaving little room for error while also increasing your employees’ confidence.
2. Pay attention to regulations
Health and safety regulations are constantly evolving to protect the best interest of working individuals. As such, you should pay close attention to changing regulations or legislation to ensure compliance and protect the best interests of your team.
3. Bring in the experts when necessary
Ways to improve workplace safety include ensuring employees are not tasked with duties beyond their skills. By asking your employees to carry out tasks that fall outside of their skillset, such as boiler maintenance and repairs, you’re putting their health and safety at risk. Not only that, but the chances of them completing the task to the necessary standards are low, likely leading to future issues. As such, you should make sure that you call in the experts for help and support when necessary. For example, this could mean looking into Boiler Operator Staffing to fill this skill gap within your team.
4. Conduct regular risk assessments
Conducting regular risk assessments can also prove useful when it comes to improving workplace safety standards. After all, it ensures that any potential hazards, however minor they may seem, are identified and eliminated as quickly as possible. If you do not have a lot of time on your hands, you may want to hire or appoint a safety manager within your team, who can carry these tasks out on your behalf (alongside taking charge of employee training).
5. Use signage
Ways to improve workplace safety include the strategic use of signage, particularly when teams are working with heavy or dangerous machinery. After all, this will provide them with some guidance on the procedures they should follow at work, reducing the chances of a safety-related incident occurring. You should also ensure that your signage is placed in the perfect position (meaning that it can be easily viewed and read).
6. Provide your team with the appropriate PPE
One of the easiest ways to ensure that your safety standards are up to scratch is by providing your team with access to the appropriate PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) required for the job. This could include:
- High-vis clothing
- Hardhats
- Steel-toed boots or shoes
- Facemasks
- Goggles
- Protective ear wear
You should also ensure that you replace PPE when necessary, ensuring that your team receives the full benefits of this kind of safety gear. Whenever you notice an employee is not wearing the appropriate PPE, remind them of the importance of doing so.
7. Lead by example
Leading by example and taking workplace health and safety seriously will encourage the rest of your team to follow suit. Conversely, if you make it clear through your actions that this is not a priority for you, your team will display a similarly lax attitude, which could put everyone in danger.
One of the effective ways to improve workplace safety is to ensure that safety remains a consistent topic of discussion. Regularly addressing safety at meetings and check-ins helps keep responsibilities top of mind, reducing the likelihood of oversights.
8. Have a strong reporting policy in place
According to Health and Safety International, nearly half of workplace accidents go unreported. While there are many reasons for this, failing to report an incident will only lead to additional trouble further down the line. After all, it means that issues continue to go unaddressed.
As such, you should make sure that you have a clear policy in place that encourages employees to report any incidents. Generally speaking, the more detailed an incident report can be, the better. This will provide you with detailed insight into what went wrong, so that you can make the necessary changes moving forward. Reports should include the following:
- The date, time and location of the incident
- Precise details of what took place and why
- The name(s) of any parties involved and their contact details
- Witness statements and their contact details
- Details of any injuries and medical reports
Incident reports should be filed as quickly as possible following the accident, especially if you need to submit them to your insurance provider.
9. Minimize workplace distractions
One of the effective ways to improve workplace safety is to minimize workplace distractions. This is because when distracted, your team is much more likely to make mistakes that put themselves, their colleagues, and your customers at risk.
Final thoughts
In short, there are many steps that you can take to improve health and safety standards within the workplace. For the most part, this is built around ensuring that your team understands what is at stake, and responds accordingly. However, you should also ensure that you regularly review your safety policies, so that you can ensure that they are as accurate and up-to-date as possible. Otherwise, you risk falling behind the latest safety trends that could improve your safety standards quite considerably.
