As a business owner, you’re going to have a lot to handle each day.
However, the one task more important than anything else is looking after your employees. They are the backbone of your company, after all. Even a single accident in the workplace can have a huge impact on your business, resulting in lost productivity, lost money, and, worst of all, a damaged reputation. To keep your company and employees in the best shape, here are six things that you should do.
Look For Safety Risks
Every business in the world has its own unique safety risks to contend with. To ensure that you’re following the law and keeping your team safe, you should carry out risk assessments regularly to identify potential threats. Once you know what it is that could harm your staff or customers, you should minimise the risk by taking the necessary safety precautions.
Educate The Whole Team
It’s important that you cultivate a standard of safety among your employees. You can do this by offering training on the importance of following safety measures, as well as other vital topics. This training can be provided by yourself or a professional, such as Apple Group. Make sure that you repeat this safety training as often as possible, to ensure that no teachings are forgotten.
Clearly Display Safety Information
Even with all of the training in the world, it’s still necessary for you to remind your team of certain information by putting it on a sign. There are some signs required by law, including directions to fire exits and first-aid boxes, but you may want to include a few extras. These will be regarding certain risks that you can’t minimise so that employees and customers are aware of the danger.
Deal With Hazards Immediately
Make sure that employees understand that if they ever spot a hazard of any kind they should report it to you right away. Certain risks, like a wet floor or wobbly staircase, may not seem too serious at first, but they have the potential to cause a lot of harm. Establishing an open door policy would mean that your team know that you’re always available to talk when they need you.
Have Adequate Staffing Levels
Most of the time, overtime hours are introduced because there isn’t enough staff to handle the workload. This may allow your employees to earn a little extra cash, but it can also put them at risk. This is because overworked employees can suffer from exhaustion, causing them to cut corners and make mistakes. To prevent this, you should hire additional staff during busy times.
Learn From Your Mistakes
After doing all that you think you can to prevent injuries in your business, there’s still the chance that a risk of some kind could slip through the cracks. If and when someone is injured at work, you need to learn from this experience and do what is necessary to ensure that it never happens again. Remember to log the incident and update health and safety procedures if necessary.
Your employees are the best asset you have, so ensure that you look after them by preventing them from getting hurt at work.
