Workplace safety is a significant aspect of managing a business, and a safe work setting is beneficial for employees and businesses. A safe work environment contributes to increased company loyalty by seeking to retain valued talent and through offering better quality products and services.
Meaningful for Employees
Safety is an important consideration for employees as they can suffer greatly from the impacts of an injury that occurred while on the job. Workers may be faced with unanticipated expenses that worker’s compensation may not cover, income or career loss, added stress on a family or relationship, emotional or mental trauma, suffering, and pain, or possibly even death.
Valuable for Employers
Employers benefit from the value that safety initiatives provide through reducing illness/injury costs; lowering turnover rates; and improving morale, which extends to noticeable improvements in efficiency, quality, and productivity. Small businesses could benefit greatly from prioritizing a safe workplace, especially when just one employee injury could cause financial devastation. Safety is an important investment; as noted by OSHA, employers can reduce illness and injury costs by 20 to 40 percent and save between $4-6 for each dollar they spend on health and safety programs.
The potential costs of workplace injury are high, and may include the following:
• Destruction of equipment
• Loss of production
• Turnover increases
• Lower quality of a product
• Lack of workplace optimism
• Potential for lawsuits
• Increased costs of worker’s compensation
• Payment for work not done
• Loss of time
• Additional staff onboarding and training
As it is important for businesses to attempt to reduce accident rates as much as they can, the following tips may be useful for increasing safety in the workplace.
Locate possible risks. Typical threats include lifting heavy equipment or boxes, which could result in a back injury and barricades in walkways or wet floors, which could cause an employee to trip. Industry-specific risks usually also exist. Businesses should routinely survey the workplace and eliminate safety hazards. A safety manager may be required in work environments that are highly hazardous, as it may be necessary to monitor workers to ensure they are performing tasks safely.
Mark safety hazards. OSHA can provide your business with signs to place in the workplace, and numerous industries require that these signs are posted to warn workers of possible risks. Having signs posted can provide immense protection to workers, even if they are not mandatory in your industry.
Implement a routine. Establishing a safe process can aid workers in avoiding risks, such as lifting with the knees or turning on equipment by performing steps in a certain order. Determine which risks your workers may be faced with, and communicate clearly how to perform the activity safely.
Conduct safety training. Every worker should be familiar with the safety protocol that is unique to your business that can help him or her avoid getting hurt. Ensure that any questions by new employees are answered, and give every employee a chance to take the safety training.
