Safe To Proceed: Essential Considerations For Every Startup

work-2005640_1280

If you own a business, it’s your responsibility to ensure that you do everything possible to keep your workforce safe. Although many accidents arise as a result of employee error, some are caused by the management’s failure to comply with health and safety regulations. Nobody wants to find themselves in the situation where they’re faced with legal action after an accident at work. If you run a business, here are some essential considerations to ensure your team is safe to proceed.

Safe business premises

If you own an office, a studio, a warehouse or a store, it’s your duty as the company owner to ensure that the premises are safe, secure, and suitable for the nature of work carried out on a daily basis. There are general guidelines in place, as well as more specific requirements, which apply to the owners of businesses operating within certain industries. If your business handles hazardous waste or there are dangerous chemicals on site, for example, your health and safety policies may be more robust. Carry out regular risk assessments to identify problems before they arise, and learn from previous experiences. If the same accidents are recurring, it may be time to change your approach and find a more effective solution to prevent any further incidents.

Training

Training is an essential part of keeping people safe at work, and it also enables your workforce to develop skills, which will reduce the risk of accidents and injuries and improve their performance at work. The kind of training programs you should provide for staff will vary according to the field in which you operate. OSHA training is recommended for construction workers while lifting and handling courses should be provided for care workers. There may be a list of courses you have to provide as a company manager, but additional programs can also be beneficial. Training is mutually beneficial for employers and employees, as it enables people to develop their skills and gain new skills.

Working conditions

Every employee has rights. Preventing accidents and injuries doesn’t just boil down to ensuring employees have the relevant safety equipment or eliminating slip and trip hazards from the office. It’s also important, as an employer, to recognize the importance of the conditions in which your employees work. If you’ve got a lot of people complaining about work-related stress or anxiety, this may indicate that you could make improvements in terms of working hours, workload and communication channels between staff and the management. Listen to your employees, take feedback on board, and try and find solutions. If people are working overtime constantly, you may need to consider outsourcing jobs or recruiting new members of staff.

If you run a business, the safety and well-being of your staff should be one of your main concerns. Even if you take a backseat and have senior members of staff overseeing day to day operations, it’s your duty to ensure that your business is compliant with the latest regulations. If there are problems, the buck will stop with you if you haven’t taken the necessary steps to keep your employees safe.

750x100

You Might Also Like

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>