As a business owner, you’ll have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. After all, not only will you be tasked with the daily running of your company, you’ll also need to ensure that the needs of both your customers and staff are met each day. One way in which you can easily achieve this goal is by making health and safety one of your number one priorities.
The reasoning behind this is clear – it pays to invest in health and safety for your business. This is due to the fact that a good health and safety policy when properly implemented:
- Gives employees and customers greater peace of mind.
- Protects you from financial and legal complications further down the line.
- Upholds your brand’s reputation.
- Improves workplace efficiency.
- Reduces the risks of accidents occurring at work.
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With that in mind, here are some top tips that you can use to keep your workplace safe at all times.
- Factor health and safety training into every employee induction session. For example, in addition to introducing them to the role, staff training should include basic safety procedures and guidance on how to use any dangerous equipment. You should also make sure that employees receive basic first aid training.
- Address any health and safety risks sooner rather than later. For example, if you notice a decline in the quality of water at your warehouse or offices, you should reach out to experts and ensure that a legionella risk assessment is carried out. Failure to do so could lead to fatal illnesses, meaning it’s far better to resolve these issues sooner rather than later.
- Carry out regular risk assessments in the workplace, ensuring that you have the appropriate measures in place to minimise any hazards or risks. While your risk assessment may not change too much, reviewing it regularly allows you to account for any changes you have introduced within the workspace and ensures that you have left no stone unturned.
- Assign certain members of team specific duties relating to workplace health and safety. For example, you may choose to have an employee act as a fire marshal or dedicated first aider. This way, when things do go wrong, you have a system in place to deal with issues as soon as they arise.
- If your staff will be operating any form of machinery, you must ensure they are thoroughly trained ahead of time – even if they have used similar equipment before. Additionally, you should install signage through the workspace that outlines any additional health and safety measures that must be considered when using the equipment. For example, you may request that they wear protective headgear during this time.
- Test all fire and smoke alarms regularly – don’t assume they are in good working order. Ideally, you should check them every month. You should also ensure that all fire exits are clearly labelled and easy to identify – as this will help to keep the entire workforce safe in the unlikely event that a fire occurs onsite. The more precautions you take, the better.
