Workplace Safety | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

Basic Measures: What Do Companies Need To Do To Protect Employees At Work?

June 3, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Employers have a lot of different responsibilities when it comes to looking after their teams. Not only do they have to make sure that they keep each and every one of their employees happy and covered by the right laws, but they also have to make sure that they are safe when they are work. There are a lot of different measures that employers have to put into place to make sure that the people who work for them have adequate protection while they are at work. To help you out with this, this article will be exploring some of the key responsibilities that bosses have in this area.

The Workplace

Workplace safety is absolutely crucial when you are running a business. Employers need to make sure that the buildings they operate are safe for their teams, using options like a commercial roofing company to make sure that their property is built properly, along with strict internal policies to keep everyone safe. If employees get hurt when they are working because of something preventable, businesses can get into huge amounts of trouble and will usually have to deal with large fines.

The Equipment

Alongside the workplace, the equipment that employees use also has to meet the right standards. There are a lot of laws in place that dictates the types of equipment that has to be used for specific jobs, along with rules that prevent employers from ignoring maintenance of their team’s gear. Much like having a workplace hurt an employee, businesses can get into serious trouble if they let machinery and other equipment hurt their team members.

Training & Policies

Training is one of the best ways to make working environments safe, especially when there is absolutely any potential for danger. Alongside this, though, strict policies that enable employers to take action against their team members when they break the rules should also be in place. There are loads of companies available that can help businesses to train their teams to work safely, though this can be done as an entirely internal job.

The Public

Finally, as the last area to consider, it’s time to think about the public. With Covid-19 still impacting many countries, businesses have more pressure than ever before to make sure that their teams are protected from an illness that could come from the public. Along with this, businesses also need to work hard to make sure that employees aren’t at risk of being hurt by members of the public. This can be hard to guarantee, though proper security measures can be used to solve this issue.

With all of this in mind, it’s easy to see why businesses often work extremely hard to make sure that their employees are protected. Alongside the laws that govern this area, it’s also worth keeping in mind that there is a lot of social pressure on companies to do the right thing for their teams. It would be unfair to expect people to work hard if they don’t feel safe in the process.

Returning to Work: Knowing Your Rights

May 25, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

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The past year and a half has seen many of our work lives drastically change. The coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the implementation of social distancing and social isolation rules, which asked everyone who could stay home to stay home. Of course, this meant that many of us who are able to work remotely began to work from home on a permanent basis. However, as vaccines are being rolled out around the world, many of us are looking forward to life returning to normal and some businesses are starting to consider bringing their staff back into the office environment. Now, after many of us have finally settled into working from our own premises, a return to a more professional and formal environment can seem daunting. It’s important that you don’t feel overwhelmed and to ensure that you feel entirely comfortable with your return. A reminder of your rights at work should help with this. Here’s some information to keep in mind!

Health and Safety

The issue at the forefront of most people’s minds right now is going to be health and safety. We’ve lived through a global pandemic and many have managed to avoid catching the virus, which can prove fatal. Now, more than ever, it is so essential that at work there are all sorts of health and safety laws in place. It’s also absolutely pivotal to every worker’s well being that your employer sticks to them. Remember that by taking on staff, your employer becomes responsible for all workers’ health and safety in the workplace. This means that they should provide a safe environment for you to work within and make sure that you have been given the right training to do your work safely. In terms of Covid, precautions should still be being taken. This involves wearing masks, providing hand sanitiser and ensuring that workers can remain two meters apart at all times.

Testing and Isolation

Everyone should be completing two rapid flow tests a week right now. This can allow everyone to ensure that they are healthy before heading into work. If you test positive, you must isolate – and so should anyone else who experiences a positive test. Your employer needs to allow for this. If your employer contests this, consult workers’ compensation attorneys for further advice.

Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing is a controversial topic, but it’s important that we know our rights in regard to it. If you find that your employer is doing something wrong, you should be free to report it to the relevant authorities to ensure that something is done about it. You also cannot be condemned or experience repercussions as a result of this. You should feel comfortable raising complaints if your employer isn’t complying with rules and regulations surrounding Covid, which includes providing a safe workspace and ensuring that individuals with symptoms or positive results isolate.

These are just a few areas to focus on and be aware of in light of many of us returning to the professional workspace. Hopefully, some of the topics will help you along the way to getting back into a usual working routine comfortably!

12 Crucial Steps To Keeping Employees Safe At Work

August 2, 2019 by Contributed Post 2 Comments

As an employer, it is one of your responsibilities to keep employees safe in the workplace. If you put them at risk by being careless, you can get in a lot of trouble. It could mean lawsuits both big and small, damage to your reputation, and more. Knowing how to keep them safe no matter what is essential – below you’ll find 12 crucial steps to help you to do this.

Perform Risk Assessments

First of all you need to perform a few risk assessments to see what hazards could be lurking in your workplace. It’s a good idea to designate a competent person or do them yourself – don’t just give this job to anybody, as it’s very important. Note any hazards down, such as lots of wires that could cause a trip, or even files not stored properly that could cause a fire hazard.

Communicate with staff about the things that could be a risk. All employees need to know what the risks are and how it could be linked to their work. It’s no good carrying out risk assessments if you’re not going to effectively communicate the results.

2. Put Together A Health And Safety Policy/Plan

Putting together a health and safety policy or plan that everybody can understand and access will ensure you and your team are on the same page. It can also stop you from getting into trouble if something does go awry. If you own a transportation company, coming up with a fleet safety policy will help – your policy needs to be tailored to your specific business.

Also, make sure every employee understands what needs to happen should there be a crisis, whether by a violent person or a natural disaster. Having your plan looked at by a legal team may also be a good idea.

3. Get Expert Advice

If you’re struggling to do this alone, get expert advice. Law enforcement officials will usually be happy to offer suggestions and courses. Experts will know what works best, so don’t struggle alone.

4. Perform Drills

Performing drills will give you peace of mind, as it’ll ensure everybody on your team knows what to do and where to go in the event of an emergency. Carrying these out about once every 6 months is a good idea.

5. Provide First Aid/Basic Self Defense/Health and Safety Courses In the Workplace

Providing courses for your employees will not only help everybody to stay safe, it’ll give them important skills that they may be able to use outside of the workplace, too. They’ll appreciate that you’re investing in their development like this.

6. Secure Your Business Premises

Securing your physical premises is also an essential step – you need to keep criminals at bay, as well as consider anything else that could go awry. For example:

Install CCTV cameras
Consider hiring security
Back up your data and keep important data on the cloud
Use difficult passwords
Use a different password for each platform
Don’t give passwords/keys out to every employee

7. Designate Leaders Within Your Team

You’re going to want to ensure that there are leaders in your group who can coordinate and take additional responsibility if something were to happen. There can be a lot of miscommunication and stress when something goes awry, so choosing somebody who is great at making decisions and staying calm in tough situations is key. Just make sure they want the responsibility, as not everybody will like it.

8. Create a Welcoming Environment

Having a welcoming environment will mean having a team of employees who feel comfortable coming to you for help without any anxiety. An open door policy is key. It’s all well and good saying you have one, but make sure you have an approachable demeanor and that you take an interest in the wellbeing of your team the rest of the time. Listening to your employees before situations escalate is a must.

9. Put Prevention Strategies In Place

Putting prevention strategies in place when you have carried out a risk assessment will ensure everything is as safe as possible. Let your team know how to spot suspicious activity, and consider things like ID tags and sign in sheets. Before hiring a new employee, you’ll also want to look into their background and references. Don’t take their word for it. You need to be sure they are trustworthy and that they are who they say they are.

10. Reward Employees For Safe Behavior

Rewarding your employees for safe behaviour could be an effective way to ensure workplace safety is taken seriously. Small rewards can keep people engaged, so not only will you reduce workplace injuries, you may find your team become more productive, too.

11. Use Labels And Signs

Putting up labels and signs is effective and cheap. You can quickly communicate important information this way, and detail hazards quickly. These tools are good reminders and warnings for even the most experienced worker. Make sure they are placed everywhere there may be a hazard as a quick reminder.

12. Encourage Breaks and Rest

Employees that don’t take proper breaks or get away from their desks may appear to be working harder, but they could actually be hurtling towards exhaustion. Burning out is a real issue, and taking regular breaks can ensure that this doesn’t happen. Getting away from a desk or their workstation will allow them to eat a proper lunch or get some fresh air and then get back to work ready for whatever their day throws at them. Even encouraging naps could be the way forward, as many studies have proven this to be beneficial, so a number of businesses are rolling this out. You might think your team will get less done, but they could actually become happier, more productive, and less prone to injury as a result. You just have to trust them!

Keeping employees safe at work is incredibly important if you plan on running a successful business for the long term!

6 Reasons Workplace Safety Is Life Or Death

October 10, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

When you are running a business that involves dangerous or physical work such as construction, health and safety should be on the top of your priority list for your employees. Running a business means taking care of the people that work for you – and this isn’t always about incentives and a comprehensive bonus structure. Though, both of those things are nice to have!

Your workplace has to be secure, safe and a desirable place to work. If your practices are not safe and are measured as being unhealthy, you will not only lose staff, but you will be handed lawsuits left and right from people who get hurt while building off the blueprints that you provide them with. Health and safety isn’t just some red tape that you have to overcome, it’s the law and it’s your legal and moral duty to ensure that your staff are working as safely as possible. Of course, you’ll always get the odd person who decides not to follow practices and procedures, and if this is proven to be the case, you will never be at fault. However, you have to make sure that you aren’t putting lives at risk and below, you’ll find six reasons that workplace safety is a life or death issue.

Workplace Safety

Injury. Starting off with an obvious one, the construction workplace is a dangerous place to be. There’s machinery, a lot of noise, people and high points to work from. All of these put your staff in danger of falls or hurting themselves on site and you need to work to avoid this from happening. Comprehensive training is important.

Death. Let’s not beat around the bush: construction and site work is dangerous, which means that if people are not trained correctly or conducting themselves correctly, they risk death. It’s not nice to talk about but you need to be vigilant about the risks.

Financial Loss. There are fines incurred for those who aren’t practicing safely in the workplace and your business could lose a lot of money in lawsuits if you aren’t training your staff correctly.

Damages. Property damage is a big risk for those who aren’t working correctly on a building site. If your employees aren’t careful, they could cause a lot of property damage.

Productivity. If you train your employees carefully, you can increase their motivation to do their jobs and to work productively on site. This is a positive for health and safety training and the positives are just as important as the negatives.

Reputation. Your business needs to ensure that it is up to compliance by the laws in your district. If you don’t play by the rules, you get badly reviewed and people will not use you. Good health and safety for staff impacts your reputation, so make it a positive one.

Your business needs to realise that people can live or die by the way you run things. Be safe and secure and you needn’t worry.

Improve Safety Throughout Your Supply Chain

July 13, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Ensuring health and safety throughout a supply chain is tricky, but it’s also imperative. One slip up in one part of the supply chain can have a knock-on effect for the rest of it. From manufacturers to retailers, everyone needs to be responsible for keeping employees and customers safe. You might not be able to control what other companies do, but you can make smart choices about which companies you choose to work with. You also have plenty of control over certain parts of your supply chain, so you can make sure they are performing to the right standards. Use the following advice to maintain safety throughout your supply chain.

How Health and Safety Can Move Down the Supply Chain

It’s important to understand how health and safety can affect your supply chain. Something that happens in one part of the supply chain can easily have ongoing repercussions. For example, if a supplier chooses to package their goods in heavy, difficult to manage packaging, it could mean health and safety problems for the delivery drivers, warehouse workers or retailers who have to handle them in other parts of the supply chain. Therefore, it’s essential to consider not just how a choice will affect one area but how it could have a wider effect too.

Workplace Safety

Gather Data to Monitor Risks

One of the best things any company can do to improve safety along their supply chain is to collect relevant data. Big data is becoming more and more important throughout different industries, and it has many different applications. Collecting data and information from throughout your supply chain can help you to spot any safety issues and make the best decisions about how to address them. Some monitoring can be done automatically, using sensors and other high-tech tools. Other information can be gathered with the input of staff or even customers. With the right information, you can identify the best ways to improve safety.

Make Sure Third-party Buyers and Suppliers Are Being Safe

It’s difficult to have a lot of control over what third-party suppliers or buyers are doing. However, you can examine them carefully and ensure that they’re working safely. You can also set guidelines that you expect them to follow as part of your supply chain. If you’re not happy with the conduct of anyone concerning safety, there is always the option of cutting your losses and working with someone else. If any part of your supply chain has issues with safety, it can reflect badly on you. Auditing your suppliers and buyers will help you to keep everything in line.

Use the Right Packaging Solutions

One specific issue that you might need to consider for your supply chain is how things are packaged. Packaging can make a big difference to several factors related to handling products in your supply chain. It can dictate how much contact people have with a product, as well as how the product must be transported. Some liquid products might need to be transported in steel drums like those from www.clsmith.com to ensure proper safety standards. Some products may need to be packaged in sizes, shapes and weights that can easily be carried manually, without the risk of injury. It’s essential to think about this throughout the supply chain.

Safety Signs

Examine the Impact of Customer Requirements

Businesses should think about how customer requirements could impact on safety within the supply chain. For example, customers could have particular requirements for processing or presentation of products that make it difficult to achieve proper health and safety. Hygiene requirements could even have an effect on safety. For example, keeping floors clean could lead to slippery surfaces. This makes it important to work together with customers to ensure that the correct levels of safety are being maintained.

Fulfill Legal Responsibilities

It’s always important to check your legal responsibilities where safety is concerned. Your requirements can vary, depending on your industry, your location, and even the size of your business. If you’re not sure, you can check local and federal websites to find the relevant regulations. Failing to follow the law could not only lead to injuries, but it could also mean that your business gets in a lot of trouble. If you want to avoid big fines or getting sued, you should comply with regulations.

Check Your Workers’ Knowledge and Experience

You need your employees to cooperate if you want to improve safety throughout your supply chain. However, if you’re unsure about how well they are currently able to help you, you need to ask them. Conduct a survey to ask your workers about their knowledge and experience related to health and safety. Use the survey to find out about what they know, and whether they feel that safety practices are carried out adequately.

Provide Training to Staff

If your survey raises any issues, you need to make sure that the correct training is provided to staff. Of course, you also need to ensure everyone has the tools and the management necessary to help them work safely. Staff training gives your workers the knowledge they need to work safely. You can also partner with suppliers and customers to make sure that they are also paying attention to their employees. Good management is also key to training so make sure that it is in place.

Develop Stronger Guidelines

You don’t have to just pay attention to the legal requirements imposed on your business. You can show that you’re willing to go further and take responsibility without being compelled to do so by the law. Creating your own robust guidelines for ensuring safety throughout your supply chain is a smart and useful thing to do. These guidelines can be useful not just for your own company but for anyone you partner with too. You might create guidelines concerning how materials should be packaged, handled or transported, for example.

Start improving safety in your supply chain to make sweeping improvements throughout your business. There are many ways you can improve safety and make things better for everyone.