Say No to Accidents at Work by Taking These Safety Measures

Accidents at work can be a real pain. Not just for the person who’s been injured, but for you too. If you haven’t taken the proper measures to prevent things like this from happening, or you don’t have the right insurance cover, you could get in serious financial difficulty. Not to mention the damage that an injury or accident could do to your reputation and that of your business! Providing you do your best to keep accidents at bay and employees safe, you shouldn’t be slapped with any big court hearings or medical bills.

Take a look at the following steps and make sure you stick to them.

Always Be on the Lookout for Potential Hazards

Always keep an eye out for potential hazards. Have your hazard radar on. Try to eliminate them where you can. For example, wires could cause a tripping hazard, so use a wire tidy to stop people from falling over them. Make sure employees are on the look out for hazards, and that they avoid them carefully too. If you spot a hazard that you can’t do anything about, make sure everybody is made aware of it and knows how to handle it. You should all be on the same page when it comes to keeping safe from hazards.

Give Health and Safety Training Regularly

Health and safety training is a must, no matter what profession you work in. You may work in a grocery store, nursing home, beauty salon, or office. It makes no difference. Everybody needs health and safety training. This training will help them to identify hazards, avoid hazards, and know how to handle certain situations that could crop up in your line of work. This isn’t a one time thing either; it will need to be done once a year at least to make sure the information stays in their minds. This way, nobody can ‘forget’ how to handle certain situations.

Make Sure You Have a Trained First Aider

Not only do staff need to be health and safety trained, you should have at least one first aider on the premises to help out if anything should go wrong. This can stop a multitude of bad situations from getting even worse, so don’t underestimate the importance of it. Usually, the trained first aider is a manager or team leader of some kind. This will help if somebody faints, trips, or simply starts to feel ill. You may need to train a few members of staff to ensure one is always on the premises.

Make What to Do in an Emergency Clear

All kinds of emergencies could happen on any given day. Somebody might fall over. Somebody might faint. A fire might start. Whatever could happen, make sure you think about them and what you’ll all do if this should happen. You should have an escape route set out in case of a fire, for example. Everybody should know where to meet and how to escape. You also need to make it clear what to do when it comes to filling in paperwork, so that you can’t get in trouble for not keeping your records up to date. This can protect you later on down the line too, in case anybody tries to make a claim. Russellworthsolicitors personal injury solicitors might get a phone call if you don’t make what to do in an emergency clear, as it could be down to you and your negligence.

Have Appropriate Insurance So You’re Not Left in the Lurch

Insurance won’t stop people from getting hurt, but it will help to compensate them should anything go wrong. The kind of insurance you get will depend on your business. If you don’t come into contact with customers, you don’t need insurance to protect them. However, if customers regularly visit you, you will need insurance. You’ll also need insurance to protect your staff, and insurance to protect the building in case of a fire or natural disaster. Don’t go for the cheapest policy, as this will rarely cover you adequately enough. You need to make sure it’s suitable for your needs.

Always Check Equipment to Ensure Its Safety

Any equipment used in your business should be checked to ensure its safety. It should be thoroughly checked over regularly, depending on the type of equipment it is. The person using the equipment should also be giving it a quick once over before they use it, but ultimately it’s up to you to keep them safe. You may need to get special people in to check over the equipment if it’s particularly complicated or large. It’ll be up to you to fork out for repairs.

Keep Everything Tidy

If you don’t bother to keep everything tidy, more hazards can occur. You may also lose important paper work. Keep things tidy by cleaning up as you go along. Don’t be afraid to hire a cleaner either, so you have more time to do the important things within your business.

Deal With Complaints Efficiently

If somebody comes to you with a complaint, take it seriously and deal with it efficiently. If you don’t, you could face further backlash. If somebody comes to you about a broken piece of equipment, don’t ignore it or leave it too long before replacing or repairing that piece of equipment. If you’ve been informed of something broken and chosen to ignore it, then it’ll be your fault when an accident happens.

A member of staff may also come to you about bullying or harassment in the workplace. You don’t want your staff to be the cause of potential accidents, so you’ll need to deal with bullies ASAP to ensure that nothing like this goes on. If you’re soft and too friendly with your staff, they likely won’t take what you tell them seriously. Being approachable is important, but so is being firm. You’re their boss, not their friend. Keep them safe by drawing a clear line!

Take these measures and accidents at work should be few and far between.