Nibletz Staff
You can not afford to forget about the safety of employees in your business. On this post, we’re going to be focusing on dangers in factories and industrial businesses. But it’s important that you realise safety is important for every company. Whether you work in an office or own a factory floor, you have to protect your employees.
An example of an incident in a business office could be RSI. Repetitive strain injury is caused by consistently typing while sitting in a poor position. If you have people typing in your office you should be making sure that they take five minute breaks every hour. If they don’t they could develop RSI. You should under no circumstances order them or encourage them to work without breaking. If you do this, you could be sued for legal damages after they suffer from an injury like this that could have been prevented.
This is perhaps the main reason why you need to think about the safety of your employees. Forget about the ethical or moral obligations for the moment. If you don’t protect your employees you could be sued when they suffer an accident. Firstly, when you own a business and have employees, you have a duty of care. That means it’s your responsibility to keep them safe when they are working for you. Secondly, premises liability states that anyone who owns a property is responsible for any injuries. This will be true even if you are renting your office or factory. Landlords will shift premises liability to the business owner through contractual agreements.
Of course, you also have to think about bad press. If you want the best employees working for your business, you can’t be known for running a place where accidents happen. Here are some of the ways typical accidents can be prevented.
Check Your Machinery
If you’re running a factory, it’s crucial that you make sure the machinery is safe for use, regularly. It may have been safe for use when you bought it. But machinery does have a life expectancy like anything else. A lot of wear and tear could cause damage to the equipment, making it unsafe. If this occurs and an employee suffers an injury, you will be held accountable. Puwer inspections can be arranged to check machinery is still in good working order.
Hire Safety Officers
You should have safety officers appointed on your staff. These people will be responsible for regularly checking your place of work is in good order. They will look for any hazards that could cause an accident and make sure they are resolved. Or noted so that you can be aware of the danger. Health and safety officers will allow this issue to be shifted to someone other than yourself. But you do need to make sure you hire the best people for the job.
Train Your Workers
Lastly, it’s important to be aware that most business accidents can be prevented by the employee. They just need to be trained to know what to do when they see a hazard. If you have the best trained employees working for you, you will limit the chances of an accident on your property.
