As an employer, your number one priority should be your employees’ well-being. Keeping your employees safe often comes down to a matter of simple precautions. Follow the right ones, and you can save yourself and your employees all sorts of trouble. Take a look at some of the best tips for preventing injuries in the workplace.
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Keep Areas Clean
One of the most common causes of workplace injuries is slip and fall accidents. Make sure that you look out for any potential hazards that could cause someone to trip or fall. Regularly check for hazards and walkways, and keep an eye out for surfaces that start to become cluttered. Not only is workplace clutter not pleasing to the eye, but it can be downright dangerous. Make sure that you encourage your employees to stay accountable for keeping their work area clean. Setting out to keep your workplace tidy is only going to work if everyone does their part.
Develop a System
It’s important that you develop a safety program at your work that has a clearly defined system in place. There should be no grey areas about what employees should do to stay safe. Everyone should be properly trained for whatever equipment they use, and everyone should be made aware of risks. One of the best ways to ensure that your workers are aware of any potential dangers is to clearly post warning signs in areas where they’re called for. The bigger and more legible the better.
Require Breaks
When employees are pushed to the brink of exhaustion, accidents arise. It’s important that you encourage frequent breaks amongst your staff to avoid exhaustion and potential accidents. If your team starts to feel overworked, it’s only a matter of time until they start getting sloppy and making mistakes that could even wind up being fatal. Make sure that you not only encourage breaks but enforce them. There are laws in each state that require workers to take a certain amount of breaks during a workday.
Inspect Equipment
It’s important that you inspect your equipment regularly to ensure that it’s up to safety standards. In many cases, accidents can be easily avoided by simply ensuring that something is in good working order. Something even just slightly out of place could lead to a serious accident, so always make sure that you do a quick inspection of any equipment before using it. If you find that anything is broken, or needs adjusting, make sure that no one uses that piece of equipment until it’s been properly dealt with.
Provide The Right Safety Tools
Some jobs call for certain protective equipment. Whether it’s a back brace or a helmet, make sure that your employees have whatever they need to stay safe from potential accidents.
