Your employees are the livewire of your business. Without them, your business will cease to exist. Your employees do not only deserve to be protected but also to have the best protection your business can afford.
Despite your best efforts and intention, accidents are bound to happen in the workplace. Serious injuries to your employees can set your business back financially, operationally and in other significant ways. Below are tips to keep your workers safe and protected from harm.
1. Develop an emergency plan
Think through different emergency scenarios — both man-made and natural — and come up with a plan on how you will respond to each scenario. When the plan is ready, institutionalise it by including it in your company policies and train your staff based on the plan.
To protect yourself and your business, enlist the help of a lawyer to look at the plan and plug any loopholes. In addition, get insurance for your employees and business to serve as further protection.
2. Run Safety Checks regularly
Conducting regular safety checks is crucial to identify potential hazards and mitigate risks before they escalate into accidents. Various types of safety checks should be performed, including inspections of equipment, machinery, and work areas, as well as evaluations of safety protocols and procedures.
These safety checks can help detect and address issues proactively, preventing costly accidents and ensuring a safe working environment for employees. For instance, implementing a leak detection system can promptly identify gas or chemical leaks, enabling timely intervention and minimizing the risks of exposure or explosions.
Additionally, leveraging advanced technologies like thermal imagining cameras for infrared thermography can help detect potential electrical or mechanical issues before they lead to equipment failure or fire hazards. By regularly monitoring critical systems and infrastructure, businesses can take preventive measures and address any identified concerns promptly.
3. Keep employees’ personal information safe
Nothing can be more damaging to your business than seeing your employees’ personal information exposed to the public. You will not only lose the trust of your employers but also the trust of your customers and the general public.
It is your obligation as an employer to ensure your workers’ personal information are safe. If you store your employees’ personal information digitally, ensure it is encrypted with the latest encryption technology.
4. Teach your staff to defend themselves
The lives of your employees can be threatened by a violent person, so empowering your employees with self-defence is not simply a perk, but a necessity. Do not wait until there is an attack on your employees before you buy that security alarm. Send them to that self-defence course, or equip them with security gadgets they could use to fend off assailants.
5. Have health and safety policy
Creating health and safety policy will make employees take you seriously on safety. But it shouldn’t end at simply creating policies, you must educate your employees to implement these policies and enforce them by penalising any employees who flout any of your health and safety code.
Your health and safety policies must be easily accessible at all times and should be part of your onboarding and induction process for new workers regardless of their positions. You should know that a health and safety policy is not a nice-to-have, it is required by law if you have five or more people in your company.
For instance, installation of smoke detectors and fire extinguishers can avoid any mishap from happening. Similarly, stocking first aid kits in your office can be helpful to those in emergency situations. Likewise, using sanitizers and Commercial Disinfectants for daily maintenance can keep a check on infections, thereby providing a safe environment for the employees.
6. Seek professional advice.
If creating a safety policy and an emergency plan is beyond you, you should seek professional help. You can enlist the help of law enforcement agencies, private consultant, or a security company to help you out.
In Conclusion
Employee safety should be one of your priorities. Never wait for bad things to happen before you put safety measures in place to protect your employees. Remember, your employees are one of your most important assets and failing to protect them can spell doom for your business.
