In today’s day and age, workplace safety is more important than ever before. It doesn’t matter if you have a big company, a small business, or something in between, you must make sure that your employees are safe at all times.
While there’s no shortage of workplace safety tips to consider, some are more relevant today than they were in the past.
With that in mind, let’s review five workplace safety tips that you can implement in the days, weeks, and months to come.
1. Have a Plan
This is where many companies get off track. They think they have a plan in place, but all they really have is a few ideas of what they can do to maintain a high degree of workplace safety.
If you don’t have a concrete plan laid out, now’s the time to stop what you’re doing and focus on this. Even if it takes you several weeks or months, it’ll pay off for both you and your employees over the long run.
2. Ask for Feedback
Don’t assume that you and your employees are on the same page in regards to your safety plan. Instead, regularly ask for feedback to ensure that you understand any concerns.
If your employees have questions, answer them as quickly as you can. If your employees have concerns, address them as soon as possible.
You can even create a workplace safety group responsible for being your eyes and ears in the field. This is one of the better ways to show your dedication.
3. Stay Current with COVID-19 Protocols
For example, contact tracing may be required where you do business. If so, you need to understand what goes into this and how to ensure that you follow all protocols at all times.
This is easier said than done, with protocols changing by the minute. It’s a good idea to have a dedicated person on your team who focuses on this.
Note: there are different protocols on the local, city, and state levels. Make sure you know what’s expected of you across the board.
Just as you maintain communication with your customers during the pandemic, the same should hold true of your employees. You must be on the same page at all times.
4. Take it Seriously
If you’ve never had issues with workplace safety in the past, it’s possible that you could assume that nothing bad will ever happen in the future. But that’s a mistake.
You must get serious about workplace safety, as it only takes one incident to turn your company upside down.
Take a step back to consider what could go wrong at your place of employment. Could someone suffer a serious injury in a work vehicle? How about a warehouse setting? Could COVID-19 strike your company?
5. Make Changes as Necessary
It helps to have a workplace safety plan, but don’t assume that it’s good enough to carry you well into the future.
It’s critical to make changes as necessary, as your plan could become outdated.
For example, before the pandemic, no one would have thought that it could happen in the United States. But it did. At that point, companies all over the country reviewed their safety plans to ensure that they were updated.
By working closely with your workforce, you’ll know when and how to make changes for the better. Don’t hesitate to take action when necessary, as it’ll give everyone peace of mind.
Final Thoughts on Workplace Safety
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, workplace accidents remain a major concern throughout the country. Get this:
A total of 5,333 workers died from a work-related injury in the U.S. in 2019, up 2 percent from the 2018 total of 5,250. The fatal work injury rate was 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, which was the rate reported in 2018.
With the five tips above, you should have a better idea of the steps you can take to maintain a higher level of safety at your workplace.
There’s no guarantee that accidents will never happen—some of which lead to injury or illness—but it’s important to be proactive.
