Manufacturing workplaces often have many hazards, including sharp tools, dangerous machines, and toxic chemicals. Still, this does not mean that part of the job for workers is getting hurt or sick.
Your efforts in maintaining worker well-being can make a real difference here. It’s a lawful requirement as well as an ethical obligation. Failure to undertake the proper precautions can result in injuries and trauma for your workers. In certain sad cases, neglect in manufacturing safety practices can cause the untimely deaths of workers as well.
If you currently lead a manufacturing firm or look to take charge soon, then the safety of your employees should be paramount. Here are some measures you can implement that should help to keep your workers safe.
Open Communication Channels
Your workers need to trust each other’s judgment. Once their input is valued, they will be sure to speak up with any suspicions they have.
Remember, maintaining a safe manufacturing environment largely comes down to teamwork. A big part of successful teamwork practices is communication. Safety tips may be exchanged beyond scheduled training, or mild suspicions, once expressed, may lead to identifying more significant problems in the production line.
Ultimately, when communication is at its best, manufacturing workers are more capable of looking out for one another. Ensure all your workers have a voice and that they’re ready to use it to protect one another’s well-being. From there, a culture of care and efficiency can be steadily built.
Implement Newer Technologies
Certain technologies can alleviate many of the burdens your manufacturing workers can experience. They can improve your processes and keep your worker’s safe.
Banelec develop Industry 4.0 systems that provide a marked manufacturing process improvement for clients of theirs. As well as safeguarding your workers, these innovations also monitor equipment use, provide data-driven insight, and implement predictive maintenance to ensure all is well. Your on-site engineers can also be granted instant access to manuals and drawings, ensuring that they perform their jobs safely and competently.
Ultimately, this all makes the manufacturing process easier and more straightforward. If your workers are safe and well, then they have no reason not to be productive. These 4.0 systems also enable you to utilise remote monitoring practices, allowing you to look after your workforce in a more time-efficient and flexible manner.
Note the Statistics
There are many hazards in a manufacturing workplace. From slips and trips to falls and improper use of equipment, any number of things could potentially go wrong at any given time.
Of course, with such a wide net to cast, finding focused preventative measures can be tricky. Therefore, you should consider browsing recent statistics on accidents and injuries in manufacturing and use that data to inform your safety decision-making processes. You can also gauge how ill-health affects workers because of their roles or determine which manufacturing businesses are most susceptible to specific injuries and afflictions.
All your manufacturing management decisions should be backed up with data. Things like skin diseases, occupational asthma, and even occupational cancer can crop up in this line of work if proper safeguards and work practices aren’t implemented. Follow the statistics, and create a manufacturing environment that is as compliant as possible.