It is time to stop and think about how often you are conveying the importance of workplace safety to your staff. Are you discussing it monthly or annually? If you are wanting to reduce workplace injuries, then you should be thinking about making workplace safety one of the most vital parts of the company’s culture. First of all, you need to understand the causes of common workplace injuries and then survey the work area often looking for safety hazards in the design and equipment.
Training your employees well
Training is a necessity when it comes to the best method for preventing workplace injury. All of a company’s employees need to have access to safety training. Occupational first aid training is necessary for high-risk work environments.
If safe behaviour is carried out, offer a reward
Rewards are a simple way that you can encourage the staff to work safely. Give out rewards to those who are following the protocols and policies. This will keep them motivated to continue doing the right thing and lower workplace injury occurrences.
Use signs and labels
Using labels and signs are an easy and effective way that you can communicate information. They are often simple and you can even use pictures to describe the proper procedures and hazards. These types of tools are good warnings and reminders that even the most experienced workers need to refer back to information every so often.
Keep things clean and organised
If you have a messy workplace, it can lead to unnecessary problems and incidents. You need to make sure that things like boxes are stacked away neatly, and if a spill is noticed, it needs to be cleaned up immediately. Carry out regular inspections, so potential dangers are noticed such as messy floors, tangled cords and disorganised tools.
Check staff have the right tools
Having the right equipment and tools for the job will create a safer working environment. Ensure that all equipment is serviced, cleaned and inspected often, so malfunctions are found early. They should also have the correct training for tools. If employees are dealing with chainsaws, the should complete chainsaw courses to learn how to safely use the equipment.
Encourage breaks
Giving workers stretch breaks are an easy way that workplace ergonomics and staff health are improved. Just by giving the employees a ten-minute break, it will mean that muscle tension is reduced along with repetitive motion injuries. It gives staff the chance to get a breath of fresh air to wake them up as fatigue is a problem that leads to workplace incidents.
Bring in safety protocol from the beginning
Workplace safety culture starts from the day that employees start. This means that the people you hire need to have attention to detail. A safe working area starts with employees who are doing the right thing and following safety protocols.
Maintain an open dialogue
You need to make it easy for workers to come and speak with you about any safety and health worries they may have. Hazards must be reported straight away, and any concerns should be easily raised if needed.
You need to appoint someone to be the safety captain who will communicate the concerns of employees to management regularly.
Have regular meetings on safety at the workplace
Being over-prepared is never a bad thing. Carry out regular meetings to review safety protocols and talk about different injury prevention methods. The best course of action is to try and keep workplace safety a priority for everyone.