In the UK, over one million workplaces injuries are reported each. Despite stringent rules regarding employers’ requirements to ensure their workforce is safe when doing their jobs, many fall short of the standards required by law and making sure you are improving safety standards will help you reduce the number of workplace accidents sustained by employees.
Have Regular Inspections
Regular inspections of the workplace by employers is a requirement under the law. These inspections should include the physical work environment and any equipment or machinery in use.
Employers must make sure that they maintain a safe environment for employees to work in. If you are an employer, you need to ensure that your business is inspected at least once every six months to avoid any risks or hazards. You should also aim to have a health and safety audit every year. This will ensure that your workplace meets any standards set by law, and it will also allow you to identify any potential issues with the safety of your workforce.
Create an Effective Health and Safety Plan
An effective plan can help your business avoid the negative consequences of having an unsafe work environment, from fines to injury or death. This could include working with a custom safety supplier to create safety protocols and equipment that are suited to your work environment.
An effective health and safety plan should include a set of standards for how employees in your business should behave at work. Rules about how to handle machinery, for example, are necessary for workers in any industry. Your health and safety plan should also be updated with new information about potential hazards.
It’s essential to update your plan regularly because you’ll want to make sure it reflects changes in the workplace and new advances in technology that might affect how people work. Safety is essential, so you need to do what you can to ensure that your employees know the rules.
Invest in Fire Safe Features
Invest in fire-safe features. Investments in fire safety equipment and systems can be expensive, but they’re a wise investment. Consider including the following fire safe features:
- Fire-resistant furnishings
- Smoke detectors
- Safety showers
- Fire alarms
- Automatic extinguishers
For example, when you opt to use fire-resistant furnishings, you’ll help protect your employees from injury or death if a fire occurs, and fire rated windows can safeguard employees from external fires. If you’ve invested in smoke detectors, your staff will be alerted to a possible emergency and be able to evacuate quickly.
Train Employees
One way to improve safety standards at your workplace is to implement training programs. Train employees on essential safety rules and learn how to avoid accidents. Training manuals, online courses, and other materials will help increase the knowledge of employees about safety procedures. Employees will be more aware of potential dangers if they know what they are and avoid them.
Keep Up To Date With New Policies and Safety Procedures
It is essential to keep updated with all the new safety policies and procedures. If there is a new law, you must be up to date and understand what it entails for your organisation. You should also make sure that you know what all the current regulations are and how they affect you, your staff, and your company.
An excellent way to do this is by regularly reading through policy documents or even more simply making a point of asking someone who knows about these things if there is anything new.