Having a safe environment at work doesn’t just happen by accident. It’s something that requires a high degree of planning and specialist know-how. Safety at work will only result when management and staff are both motivated to take steps toward a safe working environment. Check out the following workplace safety tips.
Avoid Unnecessary Hazards
Your workplace is in a state of constant flux. New machinery and equipment are continually entering your workspace. And old machinery is being moved out. It’s imperative to stay on top of changes in your equipment inventory so that you can analyse the safety implications of any changes.
Maintain Your Machinery
All too often machinery remains unchecked. But this is a major potential hazard for people operating the machinery. What’s more, employees themselves may start to use machinery differently, as it wears out. This in itself requires a change in protocol which can be hazardous. The solution is to ensure that you have a program of maintenance in place to deal with machinery issues quickly.
Check Electrical Safety
Services like Jim’s Tes & Tag test the safety of your electrical equipment at work. Every year, hundreds of people are electrocuted, simply because of faulty equipment.
But electrical testing is also important for other reasons. You want to routinely check whether your fire protection systems are operational. You also want to check whether your Earth-cable is in good working order too. It’s even worth checking whether your emergency lights are in good working order in case of emergency.
Monitor Employees
At the end of the day, your staff are only human. And as a result, they may find themselves cutting corners and not following the best safety practice. Often, however, management don’t pick up on these changes in behaviour. That’s why it can be work monitoring employees to see whether they stick to protocol when working.
Sometimes you may learn that an employee has safely departed from protocol and have found a way to increase productivity. In this case, you can make sure other employees adopt their methods.
Focus On The Most Likely Problems
Employees getting trapped in machinery is devastating. And because of that, it’s also a rare occurrence. People can connect on an intuitive level with the risk that exposed machinery poses and took the necessary precautions. The most frequent safety problems are rarely the most catastrophic. All too often it’s the small safety procedures that are violated, but these lead to the most common problems. Things like not lifting with the correct posture can lead to issues. But also, common are failing to wear the right safety equipment while working. These little slip ups are what is going to cost you time and potential litigation in the long run.
Ask Your Employees About Safety
Nobody better knows the safety conditions on your factory floor than your workers. So it’s worth asking them where the risks lie and whether any additional precautions can be taken. Engineering safety into the workplace as a whole means that they can become less reliant on personal safety equipment.
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