Workplace safety is of paramount importance, regardless of the type of work that your team does. Whether it’s manual labor or office work, there are ways you can improve workplace safety. Together with staff and management, it’s possible to increase productivity and production through workplace safety. Here are some tips on how to achieve this:
1. Provide Training Sessions
It’s important for you and staff members to be knowledgeable of the different types of possible injuries in their workplace. For example, if your work handles heavy machinery, experts on the machinery should demonstrate the safe ways to handle the machinery. Indeed, a team may be experienced in operating similar machinery, but not all are the same model, which may result in mishandling of the machinery, leading to physical injury.
Training also includes demonstrations and information on how to handle injuries. Just as there are standard operating procedures for production, there needs to be systems placed when it comes to handling the different kinds of injuries. You can click here for more
information regarding the different types of injuries that can occur at the workplace and how to handle such scenarios.
2. Place Clear Signage
Signage is an important communication aspect in the workplace. For example, the yellow triangular floor slippery sign is important for indicating that the floor is slippery. You and your team will be alerted before any accidents occur, and it’s the responsibility of the team to adhere to the signage. Clear signage includes warnings about closed-off spaces where construction may be taking place.
A workplace overlooking warning signage or staff members ignoring the caution means risking serious injury. Such physical accidents can lead to internal damage, paralysis, or death. It’s therefore advised for workplaces to invest in clear signage and for the team to take heed accordingly.
3. Encourage Rest Breaks
The workspace has to be one that encourages rest breaks and wellness when one feels tired. In a manual setting, this may look like taking a break under the shade while cooling down by drinking provided juice or water. Manual rest breaks can also look like creating work schedules, which allow team members to rotate their working hours, thereby facilitating resting times.
If your work is office-based, rest breaks should include stretching. Sitting for hours on end at the desk while straining your eyes on the computer screen can also cause injuries. Stretch breaks include standing up and walking around for example after every 30 minutes in order to encourage blood circulation. It may also mean stretching your back to avoid hunching over time. Being away from the computer screen also means you and your team get to rest your eyes and enjoy some natural light.
4. Carry Out Routine Maintenance
Routine maintenance in the workplace avoids injury. The type of maintenance required depends on the workspace. For example, at a construction site, the machinery used by staff must be maintained routinely. Staff should also be trained in identifying faulty machinery and reporting on maintenance to avoid continuous usage of faulty machinery.
The general working space also has to be maintained routinely such as electrical wiring, fixing broken furniture, and water purification, among others. Staff members should feel confident enough to report any aspect they notice that requires maintenance, and the maintenance team should also respond swiftly in such a case.
5. Observe Reasonable Work Hours
When management creates schedules or lines up mandates which require the team to work for extended hours, injury risks increase. Consistent lack of sleep results in fatigue. When one is fatigued, they become mentally stunted over time, meaning their reaction time is slower and memory sharpness decreases. Not only does fatigue compromise work quality, but it risks the safety of the entire workforce as one may injure themselves or others, depending on the type of work.
In some cases, staff members will volunteer to work more hours, particularly if the job is paid hourly. It’s advised to encourage staff members to learn about work-life balance and the effects that fatigue has on mental health.
6. Wear Protective Equipment
In terms of manual work or jobs that handle chemicals, wearing protective equipment isn’t arguable. Whether it’s a hard hat to prevent injury from falling objects, shields to protect your team from chemicals, or construction boots to protect you and your team’s feet, protective clothing increases workplace safety. Workplaces should assure that each staff member has access to protective wear just as workers request items should they not have these.
7. Engage In Therapy
Some of the workplace accidents and mishaps that occur aren’t because of any circumstance resulting from the workplace itself, but from private situations people may find difficult to share. Bringing in a therapist into the workplace may encourage workers to engage in the services as these would have been in the space already.
A therapist is trained to navigate any personal situations that you may be battling, which can cause injuries at work due to distraction or mental health issues. A therapist will recommend whether one requires medication or hospitalization. A therapist can also assess whether one requires time off work in order to attend sessions, rest at home, or other practical solutions to dealing with any trauma.
8. Encourage Reporting Of Toxic Work Environments
Toxic work environments can be described as environments that aren’t conducive to work in because of negative dynamics such as bullying, racism, sexual harassment, and gender discrimination. You might not be aware of problems such as these at a single glance, but constant observation may help to have you realize that there may be some toxicity among workmates.
Toxic work environments risk safety in the following ways:
- Physical Injury
Should there be physical bullying in the workplace, a staff member can get hurt. Another scenario may be that the bullying itself might be physical, but the victim may retaliate physically, causing another person’s injury. The standard reporting procedures of issues such as bullying should be transparent to all workers in the form of a handbook, for example, so that one can immediately flag such dynamics. The workplace is then in a knowledgeable position to execute appropriate disciplinary action.
- Mental And Emotional Aggravation
Situations such as discrimination based on gender, religion, or race cause mental and emotional distress. Such environments are why some workers experience depression and anxiety in the workplace. When executing duties at work under turmoil, mistakes are bound to happen, which can cause injury if operating machinery, for example.
The work environment should encourage people to speak up against such toxicity and have certain systems to avoid such situations. If you or a colleague experience mental and emotional turmoil, you should report to management and participate in the process it’ll take to address the situation. It’d be best if you also consider attending therapy sessions during the process as it may be difficult to separate this particular dynamic outside of your work life.
9. Reward Safety Behavior
You may place as many safety precautions as possible for yourself and your team, but it’s mainly up to the team to observe safety protocols. One way of encouraging observations of safety protocols is by rewarding safety behavior. Staff always feel appreciated regardless of the reward, and this is also an incentive to continue following the rules while others get inspired to do so.
10. Set Up An Internal Emergency Team
Whenever a person is injured at work, the medics have to be engaged. However, with the time between the initial accident and the arrival of an ambulance or the contact with a hospital, there can be an internal team that caters to the situation. This would mean training the individuals in first aid protocols, for example.
You can engage first aid experts to provide practical training and information on the possible injuries that can occur at your workplace. Such an arrangement also contributes to incentivizing the team to take ownership of safety.
11. Provide Medical Aid
You can consider providing a medical aid package for your team if possible. A medical aid package means that when an injury occurs at the workplace, there isn’t a delay in attendance at the hospital because of a lack of funds. You may face a situation where a staff member doesn’t have the financial means to get immediate attention, meaning that they have to look for other medical places they can afford to get treated. If you can’t provide medical aid, you can have an emergency financial pool for such situations.
Conclusion
Some of the tips that help increase workplace safety include safety training, observing signage, and carrying out routine maintenance. Taking rest breaks, stretching, observing reasonable working hours, and wearing protective equipment also helps to increase workplace safety. It’s each person’s responsibility to try adhering to these precautions.
Engaging a workplace therapist may help navigate personal difficulties that may be contributing to risking workplace injury. This helps gain clarity and be able to execute your duties with minimal distraction. Reporting workplace toxicity and placing systems that don’t tolerate such also helps avoid toxic-induced injuries.
Rewarding safety behavior, forming an internal emergency team, and providing medical aid or an emergency fund may also help increase workplace safety for you and your team.
