If you run a small business then you need to do everything you can to keep your team safe. This is easier said than done, but if you break down the steps you need to take, you will soon find that it becomes easier.
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Perform a Risk Assessment
One of the first things you need to do is perform a risk assessment. You need to be able to identify potential hazards so you can take steps to make sure that they aren’t going to be putting your team at risk. If you notice a steep drop or if you have a staircase without a railing then this is probably the first thing you need to be dealing with. Commercial railing systems are a good investment here, as they can keep your team safe while improving your business aesthetic. If you handle dangerous chemicals then you also need to make sure that you have the right safety protocols in place here too. If you don’t then you may find that you end up putting your team at risk and in some instances, this could even open you up to a lawsuit at a later date, which is the last thing you need.
Reporting Accidents
Another thing you need to do is report accidents as soon as they happen. You need to make sure that reports are filed when certain injuries happen and when there are things like near misses too. You also need to report any illnesses that happen as a result of work to HR if you can. If you do this then you will soon find that it is easier for you to keep your team safe and that you can also reduce the overall chances of something happening.
Training
You need to provide training to your team to ensure that they understand what their duties are. Having a health and safety protocol in place, and doing a risk assessment is a good way for you to protect your company but at the same time, you need to make sure that everyone is aware of their role. If nobody knows it’s their job to clean up spills or to put things away when they are done with them then this will make everyone’s life harder. You also need to make sure that your team has access to all of the right equipment to get their job done too. It may be that you have toilets, wash basins, and various other things that your workers need to ensure that they limit accidents as much as possible.
Making sure that your new hires receive the right training is also so important. If you don’t then you may find that your efforts slowly become pointless, as the new hires won’t be following the same rules, or receiving the same training as everyone else. One way to work around this would be to ensure that your safety standards and training policies become an essential requirement for taking the role, so they can be monitored and adjusted as time goes on.
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