Health and Safety | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer

When you run a business, you are responsible for the health and safety of everyone who works for you and everyone who enters your business building. As such, you need to ensure that you are taking all of the correct precautions to make your business as safe as possible. But, how can you do this? In this article, that’s exactly what we’re going to be looking at, so keep reading down below if you would like to find out more.

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Look At The Surroundings

When you are thinking about opening up a business, you must ensure that you take the time to properly look at your surroundings. You may be wondering why you have to do this, well it is to ensure that there are no hidden or obvious dangers. A slightly high kerb or a lower door frame could pose a huge risk to those visiting your business. There are a couple of things you can do if you spot dangers within your business area. You can highlite them so your customers are aware and can see them easily. You could also fix and eradicate the problem, so drop the kerb or heighten the door frame.

Highlight Exits

When you are sorting out the health and safety aspects of your premises, it is essential you have the correct signage highlighting all the fire exits. These are usually big, green, neon signs with a man and an arrow showing the way to the door. You will also need to have a floor plan detailing all exit routes and where you will gather in the event of a fire. This is part of the law for owning a business and all businesses have them.

All exits should be highlighted to ensure that people know where they are going in case of emergency. We also recommend that it is clearly marked throughout the building where the nearest fire exit is.

Know Immediate Steps To Take

No matter how much time you put into health and safety, sometimes something happens and someone gets hurt. You’ll need to know the immediate steps to take if it does. From being able to do a simple interrupted suture to calling an ambulance and informing the relevant people, there’ll be more than a few of these to do.

Some of this could be affected by company policies, but most of it is dictated by local regulations. Make sure you know exactly what you need to do, and you shouldn’t have to worry about anything. By going through the necessary steps, you’ll make sure everything goes smoothly.

Have The Right Paperwork

The final thing that we are going to mention is that you need to have the right paperwork. You can use a service such as Form Swift to ensure that this is all done and completed to the highest possible standard. You can have a lawyer look over all of these to make sure that they comply with the correct possible standards.

It’s important that you have all the paperwork sorted becuase if someone does happen to get injured on your premises or working for you, at least you can show that you took every possible precaution to avoid it happening.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you need to think of when it comes to the health and safety of your business. You need to ensure that your business is as safe as possible from every single angle, as the last thing that you need is someone getting hurt on your premises. We wish you the very best of luck, and hope that you manage to implement some changes soon.

When planning new business strategies, many small company or startup owners have a tendency to focus on the glamorous parts. It’s easy to see why. After all, when you are dreaming big it’s not hard to get too carried away, and there will be many areas of your strategy that you will leave to one side. However, there is one particular area that you simply cannot afford to ignore. Yes, that’s right – it’s everyone’s least favorite subject: health and safety.

Like it or not, health, safety, and employee wellness can have massive ramifications for your business outcomes. And in this guide, we’re going to explore some of the many ways that ignoring this particular challenge when developing your strategy and setting out your goals. Let’s get started right away with some of the basics.

It’s the law

OK, so everyone knows that businesses have a responsibility to provide a safe and healthy workplace for their employees, right? Well, you would certainly think so, but there are a surprising number of companies that seem to forget. Sure, it’s a big obligation and when you are just starting out with a new business idea, it’s easy to be negative about the costs. But when compared to the costs of compensation claims by employees, they soon pale into insignificance. If you want to remember about health and safety, just remind yourself that employers are paying almost $1 million every single week to workers. And the vast majority of those payments are wholly unnecessary if you follow the law and regulations.

People die

If the money doesn’t help you smell the health and safety coffee, perhaps your good nature will. According to statistics, there are 8,000 workplace accidents every single day in America. And even more tragically, there is an average of 18 deaths every day, as well. If you haven’t covered your responsibilities and made sure you have the relevant health and safety processes in place, you could end up with one of these many tragedies occurring on your premises – and pick up the compensation bill, too.

It can destroy everything

Pretty much every workplace you will ever visit is packed to the brim with flammable equipment and materials. Sure, in the event of a fire, business insurance might pay out, but if you are found to be negligent and at fault – it’s your responsibility as the owner, remember – then you won’t get a dime. So ensure you have regular fire drills. Learn more about the different fire sprinkler systems you can get and choose one that best fits your business. And make sure everyone is aware of how they should be handling dangerous substances or hazardous equipment. Never mind your business strategy – all it takes is for a loose health and safety policy to encourage bad behaviors, and your entire business could be up in flames within minutes.

It’s expensive

As we have already established, plenty of business owners are sued on a regular basis for failing to take on their health and safety responsibilities properly. And given that money is likely the driving force behind almost everything in your business strategy, it’s not hard to see how it will have a negative impact. If all of your profits end up going to an injured worker, where will you find the money to fund your growth? Many businesses – especially smaller ones – can even go out of business completely due to the enormous costs involved.

It’s not a good look

Your business strategy will also include many ideas for marketing your company. But if you are found guilty of carelessness or failure to look after your staff in the right way, you might as well rip it up and start again. A serious accident in the workplace or proof of an unsafe environment are both PR disasters, and no matter what industry you are in, there will be a long history of companies just like yours who have felt the effects when bad news gets out and their ideal market abandons them for a health and safety conscious competitor.

It’s unproductive

It’s not just employee accidents you need to watch out for as a business owner – it’s also employee health. Lack of care in the wellness department can leave your strategy plans in tatters. Employees who get sick all the time take days off, meaning you will miss deadlines and never seem to hit your time goals. If you don’t maintain a safe and healthy workplace environment, your employees will feel like they are a means to an end rather than part of a team – which has a direct impact on their morale and productivity. And finally, someone who is worried about being hurt or picking up an illness at work just isn’t going to put their heart and soul into the job.

It’s terrible for recruitment

If you run a hazardous ship, do you really expect your employees to keep it to themselves? Word gets around pretty fast in the bars and clubs where workers go for drinks at the end of the week. And guess what? You will soon be subject to all kinds of stories if you don’t take your health and safety seriously. Word will spread – it’s that simple. And if your strategy is reliant on filling available roles with the very best people, it’s going to be difficult to achieve if your reputation goes against you.

It’s a big mistake

It’s easy to understand why so many small businesses and startups don’t think about health and safety in terms of strategy. When you are starting out by yourself or with two or three others, it’s OK to assume that everyone will look after themselves. But if you don’t include health and safety in your plan now, when will you? The reality is that putting a focus on safety right from the very start will mean you begin as you mean to go on.

As you can see, it’s a no-brainer that health and safety should be an integral part of your business strategy. And if it isn’t, you are opening yourself up to multiple problems that could ruin everything in one fell swoop.