Is Your Workplace Safe? 5 Ways to Ensure Employee Safety

Once any good business gets off the ground and running, they will likely have several employees to help handle the constant workload. Unfortunately, having several employees on staff opens an employer to possible troubles if one of their workers is injured. Not only will productivity be lost, but a good employee may be seriously hurt and unable to return to work. As with most things in life, an ounce of prevention in workplace safety is worth a pound of the cure. There are five things that every employer should know to ensure the safety of their employees.

Training

Training employees to the proper safety procedures of a company is crucial in guaranteeing workplace safety. If workers are going to be functioning with heavy equipment, slick floors or in any other environment where accidents could likely occur, it is important to ensure that they are treating their job appropriately. Making safety classes mandatory before allowing someone to work will not only give employees the safety knowledge they need, it will also lessen your liability in the case of some accidents.

Thorough Background Checks

Conducting thorough background checks can protect other employees from a possibly dangerous co-worker. If a person has a criminal record of violent acts towards other people, it may not be a good idea to hire them into a high stress position that constantly has customer interactions. If something in someone?s background makes you weary to hire them, it is good to go with your first instinct.

Proper Prevention Materials

Slips and falls are one of the many ways a person can be harmed at work. If there is a spill in an area and it is not properly handled, an employee who falls will likely get a good accident lawyer Philadelphia law firm to represent them in collecting money from your company. Signs should be put up immediately following any mistake that could create a hazard, and the hazard should be corrected as soon as humanly possible. This will help to ensure your business doesn?t hear from a Philadelphia injury attorney anytime soon.

Employee Engagement

If an employee is fully engaged in their job and feels as if they are imperative to the work flow, they are more likely to follow safety rules and help ensure that the workplace stays a secure place for all other employees. Make sure employees know how important their positions are to the company while ensuring that they are clear on their job expectations. Giving regular positive feedback also engages an employee in their job. Employees who only hear from their bosses when they make a mistake are not likely to put everything they have into their work, so it is important that managers keep a good repertoire with all employees.

Emergency Preparedness Plans

No matter how much training is provided to employees, there will sometimes be situations that were not covered in an OSHA video. These situations can include fires, robberies or even violent customers. Every business should have contingency plans to deal with these situations. A building full of panicked employees will only add to the dangers of intense situations. Having proper plans set up and ensuring that employees know these plans are the best way to minimize any collateral damage in case of a serious emergency.

Workplace safety is a serious concern for all employers. Accidents on the job can lead to lost productivity and hefty lawsuits or fines. Ensuring that employees have a safe area to work in is imperative in keeping a smoothly flowing office or jobsite. Accidents can happen even in the safest work areas, but following these simple steps will greatly reduce the likelihood of these accidents occurring.

Molly Henshaw is a small business owner in the DC metro area. She is also a contributing author for the attorneys at McMahon McMahon & Lentz. It is important for a business to have proper safety precautions in place in order to avoid any unnecessary incidents!

Source: http://www.smallbusinessloans.com/blog/is-your-workplace-safe-five-ways-to-ensure-employee-safety

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