There is hardly the need to stress the importance of workplace safety but did you know you can actually save money while making sure everyone is safe at work? The general belief that implementing workplace safety is a costly business is false. Namely, there are safety business solutions that come with the promise of saving you money, rather than wasting it.
What to do in case of an emergency
All the preventive measures you implement cannot ensure workers are 100% safe. A work-related accident is bound to occur sooner or later but you can assuage its effects by having emergency procedures in place.
In layman’s terms, this means that everyone should have a special role in case of an emergency. For example, one worker will call the EMS, while another individual will help the afflicted. Employees should take part in training sessions that act out these roles.
Introduce safety protocols for all work posts
Each work post comes with a list of duties and a remuneration to match the responsibility. However, what most employers and employees alike fail to notice, is that every work post is attached to certain safety protocols.
Such protocols list all the hazards a particular worker is exposed to and the measures to reduce the risk of harm. For instance, if a worker manipulates heavy cargos, then the safety protocol will include proper manual lifting techniques.
Another common safety protocol regulates the use and storage of toxic, hazardous, or flammable materials. Whatever the danger, all workers must undergo training procedures to learn the safety protocols relevant for their work post.
Clothes and footwear
In a typical office, a formal dress code is applied. That’s why employees love those “casual Fridays” when they can arrive at work wearing flip-flops and an Aloha shirt. However, the way office workers dress has more to do with their business image than safety.
When it comes to factory or warehouse workers, clothes, and footwear can make the difference between life and death. Investing in PPE will not only save lives and prevent injuries but it will save you money in the long run.
Spill control
One type of footwear that is extremely important for production workers are anti-slip shoes. The reason for this is the real hazard of slipping on puddles of water, fuel, or oil that are common in industrial facilities. In order to contain and clean up spillages, you should use spill kits designed for work environments. These help you control spillages and easily clean them up once they have been contained.
Posting warning signs
Another great way to reduce the number of work-related injuries and to avoid negligence lawsuits is posting safety sings all around the business. The sign would warm about the hazards workers can expect in a particular section of the building.
Often enough, these signs will read something fairly benign, such as “Wet Floor” but in other instances, they might send a more serious message: “Danger: Coronavirus Outbreak – Proceed with Caution, High Risk of Infection.” Actually, safety and health administrations in most countries have regulations in place that deem warning signs mandatory.
Ergonomics at the workplace
In some cases, the dangers at work lay hidden for years on end, so it is impossible to warn against them with a safety sign. Everything from an uncomfortable chair to an outdated computer monitor can result in deteriorating health condition of workers.
Furniture can literally be made ergonomic by custom-ordering it. However, the same principle should apply to all the equipment workers use. For instance, a poorly designed car seat can cause back pain to the driver so you should replace or modify it. Also, if the business your company is in requires precision work, make sure the employees don’t strain their eyesight too much.
How to handle workers’ compensation?
As we have stated earlier, even with all the safety measures in place, accidents and injuries are still going to occur, albeit to a far lesser extent. Dealing with these unavoidable injuries requires a bit of legal savviness and preparation.
Namely, we are speaking of workers’ compensation insurance that should help protect both the employer and the injured worker. It covers the basic medical expenses, lost wages, and it allows the worker to be absent from work during the recuperation process. An extra benefit of such an insurance policy is the avoidance of negligence lawsuits by disgruntled employees.
Cleanliness is half the safety
One might not think of cleaning as an essential safety measure but in reality, you can never have a safe work environment that is not clean at the same time. Take the example of walkways and corridors I a typical office building: if they are littered with clutter, such as a disused fax machine, people are going to bump into clutter constantly, resulting in a higher number of accidents and injuries.
Therefore, cleaning the office space regularly is only one side of the story. The other side to cleanliness is the total elimination of office clutter. You need to allocate enough storage space so the workplace is freed from clutter once and for all!
All of the 8 safety business solutions listed above aim to protect both the employer and the worker. However, their biggest advantage is the fact that the initial investment in workplace safety is far lower than the possible expenses the company might be faced with in case of a serious work-related injury.
