An Expert Guide on Health and Safety in the Workplace

health and safety in the workplace

When you run a workplace, be it physical and manual labor, or typing at a desk all day – you run risks. No matter what your facility is like, how well you prepare, and how quickly you respond to crises, safety issues arise.

That doesn’t mean you’re unsuccessful as a boss or a leader. It means you’re human and you work with other humans.

But just because you can’t completely avoid all risks, doesn’t mean you can’t do your best to prevent them. Learn more about how to keep health and safety in the workplace at a reasonable level below.

Health and Safety in The Workplace: The Risks

Do you know what the number one workplace injury is, across sectors and work sites? It’s not slips and falls or sexual harassment.

Overexertion

It’s overexertion. Employees who are trying to do too much, work too long, lift too much – you get the idea. And while you should be thrilled to have such dedicated workers, you need to communicate clear boundaries.

Talk to your employees about overexertion. What is too much to lift for a reasonable person? What is too long to sit at their computer without a break?

Can you encourage them to go outside for lunch so that they don’t overexert their eyes? (yes, that’s a real thing) Encourage them to rest and not overdo it.

Your bank account and your turnover will thank you for it.

Slips and Falls

Yes, the second most cited injury is slips and falls in the workplace. Something that is almost impossible to avoid, every once in a while. If you’re at an office and someone drops a piece of ice on the floor and someone catches the puddle, what could you do?

Well, you could put a nonslip mat in the work kitchen, by the ice machine or fridge.

If you work in a lab with chemicals or a restaurant, you can install non-slip flooring or mandate non-slip shoes.

If a spill does happen, have a procedure in place to clean it up.

Humpty Dumpty-type Falls

The third most common injury type doesn’t happen so much in offices, but more on job sites. Falls from heights can do a lot of damage to the body and to your insurance premiums.

Most of the time you can prevent these falls, by putting safety gear (like harnesses) on your employees. Making sure the employee is protected is point one. Point two is to regularly inspect equipment so that you can catch any small glitch before it becomes a risk.

Creating a Safer Workplace

Now that you know the top three types of workplace injuries, we can talk about how to prevent them. It involves some time and thought, but not a lot of money.

Get started below.

Step 1: Find the Hazards

Just because the hazards on our top three list don’t happen in your workplace, doesn’t mean you’re without risks. Take the time to look back at old injury forms and figure out what your risk factors are.

You can’t come up with an answer if you don’t know the scope of the problem.

Step 2: Educate Your Staff

Once you’ve figured out your health risks and injuries from the past, talk to your employees about those risks. How do they think you (and them) can do a better job to avoid them?

They may suggest risks you hadn’t thought of – that’s the power of hive mind thinking.

By talking about the risks as a team not only will you enlighten them about potential dangers, but you can brainstorm solutions!

Step 3: Write a Procedure and Train

Now that you have a comprehensive list of job risks, you can write out the proper procedure you want to put in place. What can each employee do to prevent risk type #1, 2, 3, etc?

You have a responsibility in this as an employer as well. One of those responsibilities is training new and current staff about the safety procedures.

Having a procedure written down in a book doesn’t help if no one knows to go read it.

Step 4: Check Sector Requirements

Your safety standards depend on your area of work and your personal offices. But if you work with certain chemicals, bodily fluids, or objects – there may already be safety standards in place.

If those do exist, you can access a training course like Online WHMIS and make it accessible to your employees. Online trainings cover all the parts of health and safety regulations for your sector.

You can incentivize them to employees with bonuses, or the opportunity to do more work. For example, health office staff can get a certification to do finger pricks and minor blood samples.

That means they can put more hours on the clock and get (extra) paid.

Step 5: Stay Vigilant

One of the worst things you can do is spend time and money on your safety program, then forget about it. The health risks of running a business or a lab don’t go away, in fact, the risks are likely to change.

Revisit your health and safety plan every few months or every time there’s an incident. Make sure all employees read and understand the safety expectations.

Talk to employees about any potential risks they see that you haven’t covered. As long as you stay flexible and willing, you’re on the right path.

Communicating Your Expectations

The hardest part about keeping a high level of health and safety in the workplace is making sure everyone understands their role. You can make an employee read the safety guideline by line, but that doesn’t mean they’ll absorb it.

Try to make your training fun and memorable. Pick online courses with quizzes and checkpoints that check to understand.

Whatever you do, don’t blow your health and safety risks off. If you have an injury or an accident – you’ll wish you’d taken our advice.

Speaking of advice, do you need a refresher on insurance types you need? Read our guide here.

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