Whether you run a construction company or manage a warehouse, safety is paramount for your team, especially if they work in hazardous conditions. However, safety is also important in an office environment as well. So, whether you need to make sure your team wears hard hats on the job or need to have emergency procedures in place at the office, here are a few tips to help you keep employees safe at work:
Follow your state’s laws
From understanding how to use workers’ compensation claims software as needed to knowing what employee laws you’ll need to follow in your state, it’s important to be educated in the legalities pertaining to workplace safety.
The last thing you want is a lawsuit on your desk because you didn’t follow a law or follow up on safety policies within your company. That said, your organization should also have business insurance and a lawyer on retainer for any concerns you may have.
Onboard new employees with thorough safety measures
It’s important to have an onboarding process so that every new hire that comes to work at your company understands the safety measures in place. From learning how to expertly operate dangerous machinery to avoiding potential injury due to improper practices on the job, training your new team and educating them on safety and internal communication policies is extremely important for the safety of your workers.
Have procedures in place to prevent injury
From requiring masks on every team member when they’re on the job to enforcing the use of hard-hats while on the construction site, there should be different procedures in place to help prevent injury or illness. Keeping your team safe at work looks different nowadays with the arrival of COVID-19, so you may have to learn how to protect remote work environments.
So, from workplace environments that use heavy machinery to preventing the spread of coronavirus, your company should have procedures that help optimize safety at work in every way.
Inspect the workplace environment often
To make sure that your company is compliant with safety procedures and you have an environment that is conducive to the safety or your team, inspect the workplace often. This looks like routine maintenance on machinery and keeping an eye on things, even if they seem to be running fine.
Workplace accidents are often caused by small details that get overlooked, so make sure inspections are scheduled on your work calendar frequently. Even though inspections and machine repair may take some time and could disrupt a day or so of work, they’re more than worth it if they can keep your organization and team safe.
Check in with new hires
After onboarding your new hires, you shouldn’t expect them to follow procedures and policies exactly as taught. In most work environments, there could be a learning curve, which employees will have to adapt to.
As new employees start working at your company, checking in with how they’re doing, ensuring they understand everything, and providing any feedback on concerns is important for workplace safety. After all, training and communication is an integral part of growing safely and responsibly.
Even if it means training new hires a little longer, the safety of your team as a whole is worth it. Hire someone who can manage training and that will take them seriously so that you can ensure new employees are being taught by the best.
In Conclusion
Keeping your employees safe is one of your most important priorities and responsibilities as a business owner. Not only should you be concerned about the health and safety of your team, but you should also do your best to maintain a safe environment for the future of your company.