Your staff are your responsibility when they’re working within your building or on a site. Therefore, you must put some safety precautions and procedures in place to ensure that everyone is safe. Here’s how to make a safe, working environment.
Create A Clear Evacuation Process
There’s a reason that you do fire drills within your building because if there happened to be a genuine fire, you’d want to make sure everyone within the office was accounted for. So if you haven’t got clear emergency signage in the workplace, it’s good to have this updated where needed. A detailed evacuation process should also be provided for all those in the building, and it should be introduced to everyone who’s new when they join the company.
Encourage Staff To Clean Up
Staff should be responsible for looking after themselves, but sometimes, it can be easy for them to treat the workplace as if it’s not their home. Leaving rubbish lying around and bulky objects of furniture that could cause tripping hazards. Communal spaces will also fall victim to those who don’t clean up after themselves. However, this shouldn’t be the attitude, and instead, it’s worth encouraging staff members to be conscious of others when it comes to the cleanliness of the office. Tell staff that they must be clearing up after themselves and ensuring they keep a clean communal space at all times. Any plates, mugs or cups need to go back to the kitchen for the cleaners to clear up, and the workspace should always be tidy and organized.
Improve And Replace Old Furniture
The reason as to why so many accidents tend to happen is through faulty or broken furniture. Safety cupboards reduce workplace accidents, and so anything you can improve or replace that will help keep staff safe is a must. Over time and with a lot of use from staff members, things will become faulty or worn from so much traffic day in and day out. So with every item of furniture, it has to have some durability to it, and that might mean investing into something that’s going to last longer but maybe a bit more expensive.
Have A Reporting System
Not every operation or building manager can keep an eye on what’s going on around a building. So if there’s a broken handle or glass that’s been smashed in a communal area, it’s worth it to have a reporting system in place that all staff can use. This reporting system can help with communication between staff and the operations team to fix and sort issues that happen within the building immediately. The faster it’s sorted, the less likely it’ll be that someone will get hurt.
Creating a safe, working environment is very important and should always be at the forefront of a company’s mind. Take advantage of having a reporting system in place, keep staff responsible for keeping the workplace clean, and improve and replace any furniture that’s broken or faulty to avoid dangers.
This is a collaborative post*
