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Winter Driving Tips To Keep Your Fleet Safe

April 6, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Once the clocks go back and winter starts to set in, the rules for fleet safety have to change with the weather. Make sure your vehicles and drivers are well-prepared for winter driving.

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Avoid Collisions In The Dark

The first and most important winter road safety rule is to maintain clear vision for drivers. A lot of road collisions happen during the hours of darkness, so as the nights become darker and longer, it is very important that your vehicle lights are working properly.

Fleet owners must keep lights, indicators, reflectors, number plates, and windows clean and free from obstructions. You will also need to properly adjust the lights to prevent dazzling other road users.

It is not only harder to see other cars while you’re driving at night, but it can also be tricky to spot pedestrians, animals, and ice on the road. Make sure your drivers are being vigilant for anything that could put them or the vehicle at risk.

Be Careful Of Floods, Snow, And Ice

Drivers have to face all kinds of weather in winter, from floods and rain to ice and snow. These conditions are all dangerous for road users, so fleet drivers must take precautions. Start on your own premises, by hiring a Snow Plow to keep your own roadways clear.

Drivers should avoid driving through floodwater, as it can cause a lot of damage to vehicles, and should exercise caution when they need to drive on ice or snow. Save winter driving should be a part of your driver training to make sure your team can stay safe.

Slow Down

Speed is an important factor in road accidents. A vehicle’s speed determines whether the driver can stop in time and how the impact will be if they can’t stop. For every 1pmh reduction in speed, crash rates drop by an average of 5%.

Stopping distance doubles on wet roads, even more in icy road conditions. Make sure your fleet drivers are leaving amble space and more space than usual between vehicles when they have to drive in extreme weather conditions.

Prepare

Sensible driving behaviors are very important for fleet safety in the winter, but fleet managers need to make sure that their vehicles are always kept in top condition too. Vehicle safety inspections are important for staying safe on the road, so don’t overlook them.

Make sure that you check the tire pressure on a weekly basis before anyone uses the vehicle when the tires are still cold. The minimum legal tire tread is 1.6mm, but ideally, you want at least 3mm for winter driving.

Fluid levels should also be checked every week and you should add anti-freeze agents should be added to your radiator and windscreen bottle during the colder weather.

Winter weather can also cause a lot of damage to road surfaces, creating loose gravel and potholes. Bumpy roads can lead to bumps on vehicles, so it’s important that drivers take care on their travels.

Are You Managing These Safety Concerns In Your Business Space?

April 5, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Safety needs to be a top priority when you are running a business. If you don’t get safety standards right then you will be leaving your business open to lawsuits. You could also find that you struggle to attract the best team members to your company. So, let’s look at some of the common safety concerns and how to handle them.

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Air Quality

First, you should think about air quality standards in your business. Issues with air quality are believed to be far more common in business properties than most people would expect. If you are worried about standards of air quality, there are a few different steps that you can take. For instance, you can think about adding more green plants around your business property. This will help to remove the toxins from the air. You should also ensure that critical components like the air conditioning systems are working the way they should.

RSI

You should also consider the safety issue of RSI. RSI or repetitive strain injury is strongly considered to be the most common type of injury in offices today. It’s typically caused from working for long hours often with the wrong posture and using poor equipment or furniture. This is another reason why it’s important to make sure that you are changing your business environment to accommodate the needs of your team members. You should also make sure that you are encouraging employees to take regular breaks throughout the day. Don’t forget issues with RSI will hit levels of productivity and slow your business right down.

Faulty Equipment

Another safety concern that could exist in your business model would be faulty equipment. Equipment that doesn’t work correctly or fails to operate as it should can easily cause an accident that injures or endangers someone. While this is particularly important to consider for businesses that use heavy industrial machinery, it’s also something to keep in mind if you are running any business. For instance, there could be a staff room with a kettle that has faulty wiring. This can be enough to cause a fire in a business that would be disastrous. Commercial electrical contractors can provide tagging services to check for any faulty equipment around your business.

Stress

Finally, you need to make sure that you are thinking about the impact that stress can have in terms of health and safety. High levels of stress are often not considered to be a safety concern. However, there are a few reasons why this is a mistake. For instance, if team members are stressed, then they may not be paying as much attention as they should be. This can lead to critical mistakes that put people in harm’s way. That’s why you need to make sure that you are completing regular temperature checks in your business to manage high levels of stress effectively.

We hope this helps you understand some of the key safety concerns that you do need to think about when you are running your business. In doing so, you can keep team members safe and potentially avoid some nasty legal problems.

4 Tips To Make Your Business More Accessible

April 4, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

If you’re going to attract more and more customers, as well as provide a positive customer experience to each and every one of them, then you need to make sure that you’re considering how to make your business more accessible. You need to accommodate all kinds of customers, and to do that you’re going to need to think of what everyone’s individual needs might be. There are people of varying abilities in every audience, and yours isn’t going to be an exception – so you need to make sure you’re ready to receive.

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Disability access

One of the most important things to consider is disability access for your business. This is something that you can go about in many different ways, and it includes things like disability parking spots, ramps, elevators, and clearer entranceways. Without this kind of access, you’re making it far too difficult for a portion of your audience to be able to access your store. Having extra parking lot paving services available to help you to ensure you’ve got enough room to accommodate more of your customers.

That’s only accommodating customers with physical disabilities, and you should still be ensuring your store doesn’t negatively impact those who are negatively or visually impaired. Having wet floors, cluttered or messy aisles and more can be dangerous to visually impaired customers who would otherwise have an easy time navigating.

Customer toilets

Typically, if you’re working with food and have in-house seating, customer toilets should be available. If you want people to be able to spend time in your establishment and order more than just one meal or one serving, then you need to accommodate for that period of time. That means ensuring that you have customer toilets available whenever they need them, else they would have to leave and seek elsewhere.

Correct lighting

Visual impairment is something that can affect individuals differently, which means things like lighting, font size on products, signs, and labels, and cautions can be hard to read at times. It’s because of this that you need to make sure that any signs and labels you need your customers to be able to read are written in a clear and large enough font. Lighting levels may also be important, as while you don’t want it to be too bright, lights too dim may prove difficult for some customers to read under.

Helpful employees

New customers who aren’t familiar with your store may be seeking help to find what they’re looking for, and it’s important that you have employees who are ready to help them. It’s important to note that not all customers want to be hounded or approached when shopping with you, which is why you need employees who can identify when a customer needs assistance.

Leaving customers to get lost in your store can lead them to get frustrated, especially when there’s no one around for them to ask for help when they need it. Your employees should be alert and patient, as not every customer is going to be easy to handle.

Essential Pieces You Need For Your Dental Practice To Thrive

April 4, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

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Being a dentist is a gratifying career to have and will allow you to make a good living. You’ll be helping people and putting your skills and education to use, which will make you feel good.

Starting your own practice isn’t an easy feat but will be a very rewarding journey and career to have if you approach it in the right manner. Wondering how you can ensure you experience long-term success? Review some of the essential pieces you need for your dental practice to thrive.

Business Knowledge & Foundation

You’re no longer just a dentist when you open your own practice but also a business owner and leader. If you want to make certain you get the practice you always yearned for then consider learning more about the entrepreneurial operating system and all the ways it can help you establish and grow your dental practice. It’s all about taking the necessary steps to build a better business and ensure you get the most out of your practice and dental career.

A Marketing Plan

Another essential piece you need for your dental practice to thrive is a marketing plan. There’s a lot of competition in the field so it’s important you put yourself out there and find ways to get noticed. You must be able to attract and retain patients if you want to be successful. Know what sets you apart and have a plan for getting your services in front of potential patients and do what’s in your power to facilitate seamless referrals.

Quality Care

If you want your dental practice to thrive and be successful then you must be able to offer quality care. You not only need the expertise to perform the dental work but also to have a caring and nurturing manner so that your patients feel secure and safe under your care. Focus on eliminating any discomfort and following up to check on your patients. Your patients and their experience should always be a top priority for you as a dentist.

Clean & Attractive Office Environment

Dental patients might be hesitant about having their teeth and mouth worked on. It’s your job to put them at ease and make them feel welcome. You can do so by creating a clean and attractive office environment that helps alleviate any tension or worry and makes them trust you right from the start. Your dental practice must be clean and sanitary and feel comforting if you want patients to stick around and to keep your practice going strong.

A Good Reputation

As a dentist, you have a lot on the line every day. Make sure your practice stays in business and that you have positive reviews by doing what’s in your power to maintain a solid reputation. Respond to any negative reviews online and always perform your best work when interacting with patients to ensure they walk away satisfied. Remind yourself that it can be hard to bounce back from mistakes or errors as a dentist so take good care of yourself and always be at your best each day.

The Benefits Of Plants In The Workplace

April 4, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

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Adding a few plants to your workplace could have all kinds of benefits. Below are just a few advantages to adding plants to your workplace.

Improve indoor air quality

Plants can act as natural air purifiers, filtering out various toxins in the air while producing fresh oxygen. As a result, they can make a great addition to a stuffy office, helping to combat ‘sick building syndrome’ (this is when toxins are allowed to build up in an unventilated building, leading to people getting sick). You’ll likely find that the air feels cleaner after adding a few plants and you could even see a reduction in employee sick days. Add a few plants to your workplace interior and see what effect it has.

Make good impressions on visitors

Plants are also a great way of showing visitors that your workplace is a calm and cheerful place. For centuries, plants have been used as a form of decoration in buildings because of the colour and energy they provide (they’re a way of literally bringing life to a room). By adding some plants in a reception lobby, you could help to make it a more calming space for clients or job applicants who may be waiting there. It could also be worth adding some greenery around your premises – landscape design features such as lawns and flower beds can make a building more welcoming in many cases. Just remember that dead or overgrown plants will not create a good first impression, so make sure that you can look after any plants that you add.

Boost productivity and creativity

Studies have shown that adding plants to a workplace can help to boost productivity. This is due to their ability to oxygenate the air, providing the brain with a fresh source of oxygen for better concentration. It is also believed that some plants may help to boost creativity. The bright colours and fragrant smells provided by plants help to stimulate our senses making us more prone to ideas (work environments with little sensory stimulation are more likely to stifle creativity).

Reduce workplace stress

Stress is not healthy in any work environment as it often leads people to be more hostile to each other and more reckless with duties. There are many ways to reduce stress in a workplace. One option to consider is to add plants. Because of their association with nature, plants tend to be very calming. Studies have found that adding plants to a workplace can reduce anxiety by 37% and cases of depression by as much as 58%.

Reduce noise levels

Large plants can help to provide a buffer against sound. Adding trees around the exterior of an office could help to reduce the noise of traffic (as well as possibly providing some privacy and shade to windows). Adding plants inside your office could meanwhile help to prevent sounds travelling around your office. This is definitely something worth considering if you work in an office that can sometimes get distractingly loud.