7 Smart Ways to Improve Workplace Safety

by Groshan Fabiola I try to cover as many topics as I can

Safety in the workplace is a widely-debated topic, mainly because the national costs of occupational injuries is an impressively high one. The amount is usually paid by employers. Considering this fact, it’s always better to prevent workplace injuries rather than pay for such occurrences. Those employers who wonder themselves what should they do to prevent such events and create a safe working climate for their employees can find out more in the following paragraphs.

#1. Implement Strict Safety Rules and Regulations

If you want to make sure that all your employees comply with the safety rules and regulations in the workplace, you first have to detail those as clearly as possible. Identify workplace-associated risks and try to find some preventive solutions to those. If you can’t tailor the rules and regulations yourself, make sure that you discuss these matters with a safety consultant. Some general rules that have to be part of your company’s philosophy are as it follows.

· All employees should immediately report injuries and illnesses as they appear;

· Employees should report unsafe working conditions to their supervisor, who will immediately inform the delegated safety representative;

· Employees should report immediately unsafe actions of their colleagues to their direct supervisor;

· All supervisors should be properly trained in safety matters and should know the course of action when unsafe working conditions emerge;

· When using the company’s vehicles, all employees are required to wear a seatbelt;

· Obviously, the wear or use of firearms and other types of weapons during the working hours, on the company’s premises should be clearly prohibited and punished;

· The use or possession of illegal drugs on workplace premises should be clearly prohibited as well;

· Machinery and pieces of equipment should be handled and operated exclusively by trained personnel. The same rule is valid in the case of reparations and interventions on the company’s machinery and equipment;

· Only authorized personnel should be using dangerous chemicals of various kinds;

· All working areas should be clean and clear. Otherwise, accidents may emerge;

When you outline similar rules and regulations in regards to workplace safety matters, your employees are more likely to follow those. However, other steps can be taken to effectively manage similar matters.

#2. Employee Safety Training

Besides knowing the rules, employees should be properly trained on how to act in emergency cases, but they should also learn how to prevent those from appearing. In most of the cases, employers rely on the services of an authorised safety consultancy agency for such matters. In some cases, similar agencies offer full training programs for safety representatives. This way, each company can enjoy in-house training programs for all new employees and frequent safety training sessions for all existing employees. In the long run, similar programs will help you save plenty of your company’s resources, as you won’t be spending money on training sessions for each new employee.

Proper employee training programs are the cornerstone of a safe workplace environment. Sometimes, regardless of how well-prepared your employees are in handling chemicals or operating equipment, they must undergo extensive training sessions in safety matters.

#3. Hire competent workers

If you want to achieve a safer work environment, you must make sure that your company hires the most competent job applicants out there, even if this means paying them a higher wage. Compromising quality over quantity in the employment process won’t do your company any good. In fact, it could damage your company financial resources, as poorly-trained employees are more likely to be subjected to workplace safety incidents than competent ones are.

#4. Reward safe behaviour in the workplace

When safe behaviour in the workplace is displayed by one of your employees, you should make a goal out of rewarding it. We’re not necessarily talking about financial rewards. For example, you could praise those employees with no workplace accidents over the past year. You could even create a holiday contest where the employee with the fewest workplace safety incidents is rewarded by your company.

Also, try to avoid the “whatever it takes” attitude in the workplace. Having a similar attitude will signal your employees that when the time is tight, they are free to not follow the safety rules in force. Punish these attitudes with warnings and sometimes even salary cuts. This might motivate your employees to have a safer attitude in the workplace.

#5. Create the necessary environment for safe work

Sometimes employees disobey safety rules and regulations because they don’t have the necessary tools or pieces of equipment to safely perform their daily tasks. you must make sure that all your employees have proper safety equipment, from footwear to headwear and uniforms, especially if they work in factories. Also, all your employees working on high grounds should be equipped with safety cords and trained on how to install and use those. Safety glasses are also mandatory for certain employees, so make sure that you also supply those. If you want to find out which are the mandatory safety equipment pieces, research the topic properly. Alternatively, discuss with your workplace safety consultant these matters.

#6. Display warning signs

Sometimes, when new employees are not familiar with the premises, it’s always a great idea to signal all those potentially dangerous areas and pieces of equipment in your company.

However, sometimes, it’s easy to forget about those safety concerns, no matter how safety-oriented you are. Due to this reason, it’s always better to remind your employees about the potential dangers and show them in what areas should be wary of various working conditions.

#7. Keep working premises clean and de-cluttered

Clutter and mess make workers more likely to be subjected to various accidents, especially trip and fall accidents. Make sure that in your workplace safety training session, a big accent falls on the importance of an organised working area. This will train your employees to declutter and clean on the way.

These are seven smart and easy ways to make sure that all your employees follow some of the strictest rules when it comes to workplace safety and injury prevention. Invest in training sessions for this scope, as this is the cornerstone of a safe workplace environment.