Whatever products or services your business provides, you are required by law to make your premises a healthy, safe environment for everyone visiting or working there. And, depending on your industry, this could entail so many things. From simply getting grit bins to keep your salt safe and dry for the car park when the weather gets cold, to secure storage for hazardous materials, not only is it your moral duty to do so, but you may be facing significant fines, loss of trust and even enforced closure if you fail. So, how do you stay on top of workplace safety in a way that is easy to maintain? In this article, we look at just a few of the approaches you can take.
Stay on Top of Legislation
The most obvious thing to do is to keep yourself informed of developments in workplace safety legislation at all times. Its a full-time job – so hiring an experienced company health and safety manager is a great idea. You should also make sure that the correct signage is clearly visible and in the right places at all times.
Train Regularly
Your employees may be highly competent people, but its likely that they have a lot on their plate – and the health and safety training they received during their induction may feel like a lifetime ago now. Leading Safety HSR Training experts state that its a great idea to get your appointed Health and Safety Representative to run regular refresher sessions to keep the correct processes in their minds at all times. Whats more, if you get new equipment or undergo an office revamp, be sure to provide training relating to any changes or updates right away.
With COVID-19 continuing to impact nearly every industry worldwide, it is especially important for those in the food and dining industry to keep employees up-to-date on training related to food health and safety. Online food handler’s certification training courses are available via providers like 360 Training to employers who wish to prioritize this integral step in ensuring food products are handled to a professional level at every step of the preparation process.
Be Approachable
It is vital that your staff should feel able to come to you with any concerns or reports of safety breaches with confidence. First and foremost, you should have a clear incident reporting process in place that everyone knows how to use. Next, you should implement a way for people to come to you or other members of your management team with suggestions any time. If youre too busy to handle these approaches yourself, why not set up an anonymous suggestions box? Be sure to check it on a regular basis and report back to the wider team regarding any changes youve made.
Research Role-Specific Resources
Its always best to far exceed the bare minimum when it comes to protecting employees. Keep track of developments in training provision as well as protective gear or equipment that will help them to do their jobs more comfortably – such as an ergonomic computer desk and other office furniture. When it comes to your fleet of vehicles, you can invest in fleet management services that provide real-time incident detection tools and preventative in-cab coaching, as well as AI dash cams to protect drivers? You can check the prices of these options online.
Use a Health and Safety Consultancy Firm
Keeping track of the training, certifications and legislation involved in your specific industry can be time consuming – and theres always the chance that youll miss something. By investing in health and safety consultation, you can receive advice and guidance from leading experts. This will allow you to arrange occasional inspections and consultancy sessions to help you keep on top of everything in the most effective way possible.
