Workplace safety and health are important for workers and employees. Employers are expected to obey both federal and provincial safety and occupational health regulations. At the same time, workers must abide by the safety and health rules that employers set.
Your business is unique, so you should design a safety system, which can reflect the kind of work you do. If you have a small company with fewer risks, your safety programs can be easy. If you run a company in a dangerous industry, you may have reams of procedures and measures and probably hire full-time directors of safety. To help you achieve this and keep your workers safe at work, here are ways you can implement:
- Have a Safety Committee
Create a workplace safety and health committee consisting of different departments with shop-floor-based workers and senior managers. The committee needs to meet once or twice a month and keep your senior managers and workers informed regarding illness statistics, inspections, and safety topics.
You should also get regular feedback from workers. This will open managers’ eyes to hazards, which might have gone unnoticed, and enable them to know how workers are feeling or doing.
- Show the Importance of Safety
When your workers see how safety matters to you, it will start mattering to them. Be sure to empower your employees to bring safety concerns and issues to your attention and to the extent of shutting down the company if they notice an issue.
With fire safety measures, you can address issues faster. Remember to also express sincere regrets for accidents or injuries and show pride in a safety record.
- Follow up on the Covid-19 Changes
Part of the challenges of dealing with Covid-19 is the capability of the virus to flare up within a few days. For instance, in the US, the reopening of businesses has resulted in spikes as well as upward trends of this global virus.
While it is tempting to track how the whole country is doing, it is advisable to focus on the local numbers. Your county or state statistics can be more useful to guide you on how soon your workers should resume work and what measures they need to take to stay healthy.
- Concentrate on Ergonomics
People’s necks and backs suffer from postures, which misalign them, particularly during a repetitive task. Usually, desk employees keep their necks and shoulders in line with their hips to avoid back problems.
Rather than doing that, you can adopt an ergonomic workplace so as to keep everything within your reach. If your company requires your employees to carry heavy loads, ensure they let their legs handle the lifting and maintain a straight back. The right form will protect the healthy spines of your workers.
In Conclusion!
Regardless of how safety practices and guidelines you have come up with, they might not do you any good if workers are not informed. A safe work environment occurs when workers work together to adhere to safety standards in the company.
Although workers should do all they can to implement and understand safety measures, it is upon employees to make sure their employees have the training and skills required to minimize risks.
