Health and safety is one of the most important things in the workplace. It means your employees trust you and are willing to work, it means your business is more and more legitimate, and at the end of the day it’s simply the right thing to do.
However, it can sometimes be a little waylaid by other business practices, as it isn’t at the forefront of our minds so much as continually bringing in a profit to survive another day. Which means right now would be a good time to get some safety checks done, and some of them are a little more pressing than others. Here’s the areas you should target.
Check the Workplace Environment
This is the first thing to check out. The workplace environment is what we need to be safe most of all, and that means you’re going to need to conduct a lot of checks to keep it that way. Simple ones like making sure wet floors are signposted and that uneven floors and stairs are taken care of can be done in a few minutes or an afternoon.
Even in an office, a leaking water cooler could lead to someone slipping and severely injuring themselves, or a dirty break room could lead to an unfortunate case of food poisoning.
Check Your Fire Safety Plan
Fire safety is always something we need to be aware of in the workplace. A fire exit is something every single property, both business and residential need, and therefore it needs proper signposting and clear access at all times. This is at the very least the core of your fire safety plan.
It’s unlikely you’re going to see a fire in your workplace if you’re outside of the hospitality sector, but there’s always a possibility of it. Make sure you’ve got fire extinguishers at the ready on your office walls, and make sure you invest in fire extinguisher testing from time to time.
Check Your Equipment
Depending on the kind of business you’re in, both big and small machines can cause a lot of harm if they’re malfunctioning. When you’re in the manufacturing business, you need your operating floor to stay as efficient and accident free as possible, and the one way to do that is to conduct regular maintenance checks.
Of course not all kinds of equipment in the workplace are going to need safety checks, but it still makes sense to make sure they’re always plugged in and working properly during rush times. Even when all you have is a printer to your name, making sure no one is going to trip over the wire is going to keep serious injuries and lawsuits away from tainting your business name.
Whenever you can identify a hazard in the workplace, make sure you’re routinely checking it. You need to stay on top of the game no matter the sector you work in, and small businesses are always at risk of losing money on hazards and complaints during the daily grind. ]]>
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