How to ensure you have a safe workplace

Healthy and safety – love it or loathe it, it’s a crucial facet of your business. 

Designed to protect employees, customers and visitors from harm, health and safety at work is a legal requirement under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Failure to abide by these rules can mean hefty fines for your business. And with accidents at work costing the UK £16.2 billion each year, it’s never been more important to act. 

To help you avoid expensive lawsuits in the case of an accident, we’ve put together our top tips to keep your business afloat and employees happy. 

Conduct thorough training

Every employee in your business should receive appropriate training as soon as they start. Whenever a new employee starts, make sure they complete all the relevant health and safety training. This should include (as a very minimum!), how to avoid accidents and what to do should they occur. 

Invest in the right equipment

No matter your industry or sector, you need to make sure you have the right equipment. For example, if you are working with heavy machinery, you’ll need face shields, protective gloves and so forth.

For other businesses, you should also consider providing employees with facemasks and other PPE to keep everyone safe. 

Invest in safety signs

Safety signs should be a key component in your business’ health and safety strategy. As well as an essential ‘wet floor’ sign, you should also consider investing in additional safety signs to warn of potential dangers or deny certain person’s access. 

This way, you shouldn’t have anyone unauthorized wandering where they might get hurt. 

Invest in medical equipment

Although in an ideal world nobody would get hurt, sometimes accidents do happen. Because you never know what’s around the corner, you should ensure you have the right medical equipment to hand – just in case. 

As a very minimum, you should have a comprehensive first aid kit with all the essentials such as bandages and disinfectant. If possible, investing in specialist pieces of equipment such as defibrillators will mean you’re always prepared. You can even look at a range of hospital trolleys to store your medical equipment in to keep it all organized for when you need it.

Log all accidents

Did you know that it is a legal requirement for businesses to log all work-related injuries and accidents? 

As a business, it is paramount that you log every incident – no matter how minor. By logging each incident, you can make sure they are identified and don’t happen again.  

Implement workplace rules

One way to keep everything in check is to implement workplace rules to prevent accidents. Whether that’s something as simple as allocating designated smoking areas or walking to the left of corridors – small changes can go a long way in protecting your employees. 

The bottom line…

Although mentioning health and safety can be met with groans of disdain, it’s extremely important that you adopt a workplace culture that puts health and safety first. By taking some time to implement appropriate measures, you can protect your employees and your profits.