Every single year, hundreds of thousands of workplace accidents happen, leading to over 100 million production days lost. Such accidents cause mental and physical harm to employees. Also, it creates financial harm for employers. Businesses need to prevent workplace accidents and the tips below will help with that.
Actively Discourage Risky Behavior
In many cases, a workplace accident happens because the employee is pushing himself/herself too hard. This can be in a desire to impress someone or for other reasons, like wanting a raise. Unfortunately, risky behavior can easily lead to injury.
Businesses have to encourage employees so they can be creative and productive. However, this should never increase accident risks. Employee safety is far more important than productivity boosts.
Implement Good Control Measures
First, you need to understand workplace hazards that can affect your staff. Then, you need to create a plan and implement strict control measures with the purpose of reducing all risks.
According to workplace accidents experts Oresky & Associates, most businesses do not actually have control measures in place when it comes to analyzing workplace hazards and as a result, they do not implement practices to minimize risks.
As a very simple example, let’s say an employee works on computers. This presents the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome. It is the responsibility of the business to offer wrist braces and offer frequent, short breaks.
Offer Adequate Training
Poorly trained employees are always a danger. This is in relation to themselves, co-workers, and even third parties. If proper training is not in place, employees can put themselves in danger without being aware of it.
Most workplace accidents can be prevented by using a training program that shows every single new employee how to perform tasks, use software, equipment, and so on. This means it takes more time for the employee to work but it is worth it as you protect the staff and the business from accidents and lawsuits. In addition, regular retraining sessions are needed for employees to stay up-to-date with procedures and policies.
Regular Inspections
There are many situations in which the use of dangerous work equipment cannot be avoided. This does not mean that workplace accidents are inevitable. Regular physical inspection of tools, equipment, and machinery helps businesses avoid accidents caused by unsafe work items.
Whenever you find something that is broken, it needs to be replaced or repaired. If you just try to save some money on a part by not replacing it, the employee can end up injured.
Risk Management
Always implement up-to-date risk management practices for all business operations. This is important because it helps you to figure out where dangers are and what you can do to eliminate or mitigate them. Basically, the goal is to be active, not reactive. You need to find ways in which you can prevent workplace accidents from happening as opposed to dealing with them when they appear. Risk management is all about identifying risks and developing practices to reduce the possibility that they will lead to accidents.