Using A Risk Assessment To Choose Health & Safety Signs For The Workplace

by Ashok S. Digital Strategist

Most everyone has been inside of a business and seen the healthy and safety signs that cover the walls in many work environments. These signs are not options that are placed there by choice but actually compliance to healthy and safety laws that are established to keep employees and even visitors and customers safe while they are in the building.

To decide which of these health and safety signs that should be hung and where a business should conduct a risk assessment on the environment to make their decisions. This assessment will evaluate every aspect of the workplace and come to the conclusion on exactly what can harm people to decide what steps need to be taken to prevent an accident even if it is a minor one. While there is no way to completely eliminate risk it can be carefully noted and marked with signs so that those who are in the area no of the risk that is around.

A proper risk assessment is a five-step process that begins with identifying the hazards in the workplace. Risks to be noted include not only immediate dangers such as fall areas but also long term ones such as machinery that exposes the ears to loud noises. There are many websites and resources available that will help employers decide what the risks are in their particular building. The second step is to decide who might be harmed by the particular hazards in the area. While many will affect most there are some, which will only apply to certain groups such as pregnant women and those who are already ill.

After these steps are taken each should be carefully considered to decide on precautions should be taken to keep accidents from happening. Steps to be considered include issuing personal protection equipment or installing the correct fire fighting equipment to handle chemicals or flammable materials. Once it is deciding what course of action is the best route for keeping the most people safe these steps should be put into use and ensured that everyone who is around complies with the health and safety requirements. These should also be clearly marked with the proper signs so that even those who are not in an area daily know such things as where safety equipment is and evacuation procedures in case of emergency.

Once the risks have been considered and precautions taken the health and safety of employees should not be forgotten like the problem is taken care of. Things can change and therefore the risks should be re-evaluated periodically to ensure that these changes have not changed the risks that are involved to ensure that the environment remains safe.

Safety in the workplace is a responsibility of the owner and keeping their employees safe is not only important but the law. With health and safety signs mandatory to comply with these laws it is important that owners have a proper risk assessment for their establishment.