Business Safety: Tips to ensure safety at a workplace

Creating a safe work environment is very important for any business. A safe workplace leads to happy employees, lower insurance premiums, and better productivity. However, maintaining a productive and safe workplace requires creating an environment where all workers participate to achieve safety goals.

The cost of workplace injuries

In 2015 the cost of disabling illnesses and injuries in workplaces worldwide was almost $60 billion. Overexertion is the reason behind almost a quarter of all workplace injuries. It involves carrying, holding, lifting, pushing, pulling, or throwing heavy objects. Falls are in the second position involving 19 percent of workplace injuries. These can impact a worker’s health, productivity, and also the company’s revenue.

Ultimately, it is the employer who has to bear the brunt. Also in cases where the company does not have a proper insurance cover, it can cost their businesses dearly.

Every employee deserves a protected and safe work environment. As an employer, it is your duty and moral responsibility to ensure that your employee’s health and safety meet the legal requirements.

In this article, we will share with you some business safety tips to create a strong safety culture that engages employees as part of the process.

What is workplace safety?

Workplace safety refers to the safety measures that are imperative for the working environment of a business. It covers all the individual factors that may affect an employee’s health, well-being, and safety. It may include:

• Unsafe conditions or working processes
• Environmental hazards
• On-site violence
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• The appropriate use of tools
• Making crisis exits easily accessible
• The use of mechanical assistance
• Reducing job-related stress

Researches prove that safety impacts businesses positively

Safety issues are compliance, safety leadership, employee engagement, risk reduction, and measuring safety performance. To evolve safety to the next level, companies should adopt a safety management system. It means the part of the organisation’s management that covers:

• The health and safety policy and work organisation in the company.
• The planning process for the prevention of accidents.
• The responsibilities of line management.
• The practices, procedures, and resources for developing, implementing, and reviewing the occupational health and safety policy.

The business safety policy of a company must have two main goals:

1. To improve the health and safety of all workers by reducing exposures to hazards, fatalities, illness, or injuries.
2. To change workplace cultures by increasing both employer and employee awareness, commitment to, and involvement in health and safety.

The primary focus must be on preventing the leading causes of preventable deaths and injuries.

How to ensure business safety in the workplace?

Employers should ensure that the employees are:

• Informed about the various hazards of the workplace
• Trained how to avoid risks.
• Provided with information about the health and safety laws applicable to the company.

The employer’s responsibilities include:

• Taking a proactive approach concerning health and safety concerns.
• Identifying potential hazards.
• Neutralising risks or taking precautionary measures to prevent any harm to the employees.
• Ensuring that the staff is aware of, and issued with the appropriate safety gear for any risks.
• Maintaining a record of accidents and making them available upon request.

Normally, a small business cannot afford a full-time safety manager or officer. Still, a safe environment-and a matching business safety culture can be created and maintained at any small business.

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Publish All Rules Clearly

First, you have to make all your employees aware of the safety rules. Only then, you can hold them accountable, if there is any flouting of the safety compliance. You can post the safety rules at prominent places throughout your location.

Encourage safety awareness

You can look for blog posts or other articles about safety and circulate them by email or posting. You have to ensure that all employees are aware of the safety rules.

The benefits of improving your company’s workplace safety

Apart from helping you avoid legal issues, it improves employee morale, productivity, and retention. It also has a positive impact on your businesses’ financial performance.

Ventures with robust workplace safety procedures in place and recorded meticulously have their risks covered by insurance. Their worker’s compensation premium is related to the company’s accident history.

It also compares your company’s accident rate to other ventures within the same industry. Should your business have a higher than average worker’s compensation claim rate over the past three years, you will have to pay higher premiums. On the other hand, if your claim rate is lower, you’ll benefit by paying lower rates.

Various safety programs cover a broad spectrum of areas of concern and potential hazards. In general, the following actions can be taken to improve the safety of the work environment:

• Installing equipment controls
• Making personal protective gear available.
• Creating and distributing operational manuals.
• Implementing an alcohol and drug testing program.
• Enforcing and establishing handling policies for hazardous materials.

Create a Workplace Safety Culture

Make workplace safety a significant part of your company’s culture; only then you can reduce occupational injuries. First, try to understand the root causes of your most serious workplace injuries and regularly survey the workplace for potential safety hazards in equipment and the particular nature of the work.

Business safety covers two aspects-men and materials. We will discuss the material safety below.

How to ensure business safety in a neighbourhood?

Here we discuss some steps that you can take to prevent crime and ensure the safety of your business:

The outer appearance of your business can either encourage criminals or deter crimes. The following are some steps that can make your business more secure:

• Maintain the property. A rundown building or business will attract criminals, so make sure the building, landscaping, parking area, and sidewalks are clean and well-maintained.
• Remove all old or damaged displays, posters, or signs.

Store Layout

• The checkout counter should be positioned near the front of the store; so employees can monitor activities inside and outside the store.
• Mark private and public areas, and make private areas non-accessible to outsiders.
• Secure fire escape ladders and keep trees near the building well-trimmed so that they cannot be used to access the roof.
• The rear portion of the building should be well-lit at night.
• The loading area should be kept clean and free of large objects that could hide people.
• Ensure that all entrances to the building are under constant visual surveillance.
• Install an alarm system.

Burglary

To make your business secure against burglary, you can take the following steps:

• Keep the premises well-lit.
• Secure all exterior doors with strong deadbolts. Also, the doors should have a strong core.
• Protect any glass with bars, polycarbonate sheets, or roll down bars.
• Install an alarm system.

File Protection

File protection has become a top priority for small businesses. Cyber-criminals often target medium and small-sized businesses. They represent easy targets that often have lax safety mechanisms and low levels of cybersecurity in place. Confidential client data-sets stored by these companies can be valuable assets that command high prices in the black market.

To protect files, companies can use a secure cloud storage provider. It provides an additional layer of protection to your data and documents. The services provided include encryption, activity tracking for auditing purposes, email protection, and much more.

You can also protect your data with antivirus software, backups, and a secure password manager.

When working in a fast-paced environment and striving to meet deadlines, business safety often takes a back-seat. But if safety standards are not enforced strictly, they can have a devastating effect on the employer and the company. We hope that the above article will help you to face the situation positively.

Also read:
Building Customer Loyalty - The Best Business Success Tips to Build Your Brand
Success Tips for SMEs to Navigate Through Rough Patches
Think Global Act Local: Tips to Run a Small Business Effectively
Tips for Work-Life Balance for the Modern Businessperson

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