A Safe Place to Work…
In 2020/21, 142 workers died due to fatal injuries at their workplace in the UK. Whether your employees are operating in a high-risk industry or not, their safety and wellbeing should be prioritised above anything else.
Today is World Day for Health and Safety at Work. The day aims to promote the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally. This year, there is a focus on enhancing social dialogue towards a culture of safety and health.
This article will share how you can keep your employees, customers, visitors, and other personnel safe to avoid injury or illness, fines, and a damaged reputation.
Use Signs and Labels
You’re probably familiar with signage on construction sites, for example, signs stating you must wear protective footwear, high-visibility jackets, helmets, and more. However, signage isn’t only necessary in the construction industry. Even in an office, there can be hazards. If there is very hot water from taps, it’s a good idea to have a label or sign to alert employees or visitors of the hazard.
In addition, fire risk assessments are a legal requirement, and one must be done if there are five or more occupants in the building. The consequences of not doing one can be detrimental, and you could face a prison sentence. Does your building have fire exit signs clearly displayed?
Create a Culture of Safety
Every seven seconds, a worker is injured on the job. Not only does this lead to loss of productivity, and employee absenteeism, staff may become unsatisfied in their role, and you may find you have a high employee turnover.
By creating a culture of safety, your organisation will benefit from increased productivity and employees are likely to have higher job satisfaction.
Ensuring the appropriate training is delivered may mean going beyond your traditional programmes. It’s worth providing employees with learning experiences that enable them to think differently about safety, as this will help achieve a shift in culture. Providing them with the opportunity to take ownership of their role in creating a culture of safety is also likely to make them feel more valued.
Encourage Employees to Report Concerns
It’s important that employees are aware of the procedure when it comes to reporting health and safety concerns. This means knowing who to report to, and how. Maintaining an open-door policy among managers and their teams will also help.
Ensure all staff know they can offer suggestions and report any safety or health problems. Communication amongst co-workers is equally crucial and should be encouraged!
Identify somewhere where employees can report safety issues, near-misses, or ideas. This might be as simple as a box where employees can drop a note expressing their concerns. Make sure the box is labeled as a place to report safety issues and that all staff are aware of it.
Implement ISO 45001
ISO 45001 is the internationally recognised standard for occupational health and safety management systems. ISO stands for the International Standardisation Organisation and is the organisation responsible for publishing the standards. Such standards exist to ensure good health and safety, and others cover eco-friendly practices and more.
By having ISO 45001, your organisation will benefit in many ways. One example is that doors open for tendering, as in order to qualify for most contracts, and government tenders, you must hold the certification.
Other benefits include:
- Improve hazard identification and risk assessment
- Reduced number of accidents
- Strengthen your company’s reputation
- Improve employee productivity and boost morale
- Avoid costly fines through compliance
Use Health and Safety Experts
Using a company or individual qualified to advise in health and safety is always a good idea. You can hire someone to act as your competent person, conduct a fire risk assessment and consult on health and safety-related matters.
Candy Management Consultants are a team of experts on all things Health and Safety and ISO related serving clients nationwide in a variety of different industries.
Our support packages ensure your business is compliant with the latest legislative and regulatory requirements, whatever the industry. We have assisted companies of all sizes and sectors, from sole traders to government organisations.
If you would like to know more about how we can help you, then please Get in Touch.