In the UK, a staggering 1.8 million working people are suffering from work-related injuries. Although it’s easy to think that this won’t happen to your business or your employees, accidents can and do happen.
While it’s impossible to prevent all injuries, here are some steps you can take to keep your employees safe at work.
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Train your employees
Firstly, it goes without saying that training your employees is paramount. As well as helping employees feel as though they’re progressing and learning on the job, adequate training is vital if you’re going to prevent workplace injuries.
Not only does thorough training prevent accidents and mishaps, but it also helps boost productivity. And with 71% of businesses worried about the future of their company, there’s never been a better time to increase your efficiency!
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Invest in the right equipment
If your business has a lot of heavy objects that need lifting, it’s important to make sure that you have the right equipment available. Without this, you’re putting your employees in danger – and your business could have a lawsuit on its hands if you’re not careful!
Luckily the answer is simple: hoists.
Hoists are a safe way of moving heavy objects easily. If hoists are out of the question, even offering employees proper back support when lifting can be beneficial.
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Provide signage and labels
A lot of businesses forget about signage and labels! Rather than playing Chinese whispers, labels and signs are a cheap and effective way to communicate important information to employees, even if you don’t have time to explain things to them in person.
Signs are usually straightforward and rely on pictures to alert employees to potential hazards and proper procedures. For example, wet floor signs, fire exit signs or even hazardous material labels are cheap to produce but could save someone’s life.
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Implement safety meetings
Although you might not want to hear the cold, hard truth about your business, sometimes it’s important to take employees’ feedback onboard. To create a truly safe workspace, it’s important to hear from employees where they think safety could be improved.
If you can, try to bring workers from different departments together. By speaking to everyone from senior managers to shop-floor-based employees, you can share learnings and be alerted of any hazards that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.
Final thoughts…
As an employer, it’s your responsibility to ensure that your employees are safe at work. But the good news is that by following these four simple steps, you can keep your employees safe, happy and productive.
