One of the most important traits of being a business owner is looking after others. Yes, you want your business to do well, but do you want your business to do well because you took advantage of others and stepped on them, or because you nurtured others and ensured that they had the best motivation to want to work with you?
Yeah, we know, the second one.
Not only do you want to encourage your staff to do well, but you want to provide them with the right workplace that will give them as much support as possible. This means that it’s imperative that you ensure that workplace safety is a priority for you. You need to have the space your people work feel physically safe, but you also want to maintain their health and wellbeing at the same time. Every single business leader needs to consider their actions as to whether they are providing a safer working environment, and with our help, you can check to see whether you are doing just that. Let’s take a look!
Promote A Clean Working Environment
Clean workplaces sound like something that’s just a given, doesn’t it? However, there are plenty of places that don’t follow proper hygiene rules and it’s these workplaces that suffer the higher employee sickness rates. A clean environment is one with less bacteria, less hazardous waste everywhere and somewhere that staff WANT to be – which is key for a positive place to work.
Encourage Communication
If you have a workplace in which communication is encouraged, then people won’t feel the need to stay silent should something happen to them. This can be anything from workplace bullying to safety and hygiene mistakes that shouldn’t be overlooked. If you ensure that your staff know that they can come to you with any problems, there is less likely to be any problems at all. Safety is not limited to the environment in the physical workplace, but the people who work together.
Educate Your Staff
Health and safety in the workplace isn’t an option, it’s a necessity and you must educate your employees on the health and safety regulations specific to your industry and business. Education is the key to awareness, and awareness is key to avoiding accidents that are entirely preventable. You can predict what could go wrong with risk assessments and that’s how you educate your staff.
Fire Safety Is Key
You need to know the hazards in your office so that you can remove the threat of fire. Commercial electrical services can come out every six months and assess your electrical systems for any issues and shorts, and they can let you know whether any of your business appliances and systems are a hazard. Perform regular fire safety assessments and every month, run a full fire evacuation process so that all employees are aware of what to do.
See It, Say It, Sorted
It’s a catchy phrase from the London Underground Service, but it’s a saying that you can implement everywhere. Slips and trips happen a lot in the workplace, and if you can recognize when there are hazards and you see it, then you can tell someone and it can be sorted. If there are any issues that you spot in the office or the warehouse environment, tell someone and get it fixed.
Regular Training
All employees should be aware of their responsibilities in the office, and you are legally obliged to provide a safe working environment. However, your staff also have a responsibility to their own health and safety, too. They need to know how to look out for any threats and they need to protect themselves the best way they can. Regular training can help them here, and offer First Aid training where you can, too.
Offer Excellent Security
Your staff and your guests deserve to feel safe in your office. Locking up the doors, the gates, the driveways and the surrounding fencing is important. You want people to feel physically safe – it’s why you should offer as much security as your office can manage – including offering security guards in the office, too. Someone on the desk can be a presence that your staff need to feel as safe as possible. Even something as simple as closing the windows and doors at night can make a difference, as can the best possible technology security that your IT team can install.
Disaster Training
Every business needs a back-up in a disaster, from fires and floods to cyber wipeouts and hurricanes. Disaster training and drills will ensure that people know what to do in an accident or an incident outside the office. If everyone knows what to do, there will be less panic and worry less when things do go wrong. Your staff deserve better than that, and you can ensure that they get the best possible support through any kind of worry. Terrorist attacks are a huge worry for a lot of businesses, it has been since 2001 especially, and so employees often feel safer when they know what to do in a disaster situation.
Make Information Accessible
From the hazard signs on the walls to the leaflets regarding health and safety in the workplace, you need to make important health and safety information as accessible as possible. Staff handbooks, occupational risks and symbols for hazards should be understood by your staff, and everything should be as easily visible as possible so that everyone can work as safely as they can.
If you ensure that your staff are as aware as you are about health and safety, you can offer a safer office. Keep up with electrician and plumbing checks as well as general safety checks, and you can be the leader that offers the best possible workplace for their staff. This is the kind of leader you want to be!
