It’s easy to get your processes and procedures in place to protect your employees and then forget about them over the course of a few months. However, a lot of the risks and dangers at work are constantly changing and need regularly addressing. Whether you work in a warehouse or a mechanics garage, there are a number of things you can do as an employer, to maintain health and safety standards for those who work for you.
The importance of health & safety in the workplace
Stop and think for a moment. How often and in what ways do you convey the importance of workplace safety to your employees? Do you have a monthly reminder, or is it quarterly or annually? If you want to reduce workplace injuries as a business, consider making health and safety part of your company’s culture.
Start by understanding the root cause of your most serious workplace injuries and regularly surveying where people work, as well as any potential safety hazards from equipment to best practices. Do your employees have the right safety gear including protective footwear and hi-vis clothing? Are they following procedures correctly?
Have a plan for your business
If you don’t have a plan, it’s time to get one. Having a plan for your business can help to mitigate and prevent a lot of risks your employees face. You could even partner with specialist businesses who would come and complete an audit of any risks and dangers that are affecting your employees. They would then develop a plan of action that you can use going forwards.
Maintain a healthy stock of PPE
Personal protective equipment is crucial for so many workplace roles. Whether you’re working in a factory or on the side of a motorway, there are countless numbers of reasons you’d need to wear PPE. According to the health and safety act, an employer must provide free PPE to any employees who need it. It must be kept in a good and clean condition so that it’s ready to use.
Having a healthy stock allows you to give newer and better PPE to employees, especially if any items of clothing or footwear are damaged and deemed unusable.
Regularly assess new and existing threats
Finally, making sure you regularly assess your existing and any new threats is key to maintaining health and safety standards. Risks change regularly, whether that’s from weather conditions to new pieces of equipment. By auditing and evaluating them as soon as you can, it means there’s much less of a chance that something dangerous or potentially life-threatening will happen.