If you are a business owner then you should have staff safety extremely high on your list of priorities. Personal injuries in the U.S. alone sees over 30 million people in hospital each year, and a alleger percentage of those injuries are cause through negligence in the workplace.
After finding out this statistic last year, I was very keen on tightening up operations in my business so that I could do all that I could to ensure maximum safety for the staff. I consulted Groth & Associates who specialise in personal injury law, and with their help I implemented plenty of changes in my business, with the goal to make it as safe as possible. If you are a business owner, here is what you need to do in order to avoid accidents as best you can.
Training
Every single person that works in your company, be it full time or temporarily, must have the adequate safety training before they begin to work. You can tailor-make this safety training for your business or you can also find a great amount of training material through government agencies. My recommendation would be that you use both the government standard training, as well as some more workplace-specific details. Make sure that all staff sign off their training, and that you refresh them each year.
Signage
Clear signage should be used throughout your business to warn your staff of dangers which may exist in the workplace. Signage should be paid attention to by staff but this is not exactly your responsibility. As long as you have shown the staff the signs during their training, and assuming that the signs remain clear, unobstructed and informative, you have done your part in terms of keeping the staff safe.
Protective Equipment
I read a story about a mining company in Arkansas who were forced to go out of business after a fatality in the workplace, because of a lack of protective equipment. Whilst I am aware that this is an extreme case, it highlights the dangers that exist if you don’t provide your staff with any safety equipment which they may need. You must invest in replacing and installing this equipment in order to keep your workforce safe, failure to do so could cost you a great deal more should an accident take place.
Standards
Both you and your management team are responsible for ensuring that standards when it comes to safety in the workplace, are extremely high, and that it is high on the agenda. Anyone coming into the business should be aware of the standards which you have put in place and these should be managed daily. Whether it is cleaning standards or best practices, you must be vocal about the fact that staff should respect, and live up to the standards which you have set.
Accidents can happen, that’s why they are named as such, but if you don’t keep up your safety measures, one of those accidents could take place because of your company’s negligence, and that can land you in hot water, remove the risk and up your safety.
