Work-related accidents affects companies in many different ways. It reduces employee morale, increases the cost of insurances, burns through additional time and resources trying to find a replacement for the injured worker, and it leaves the company vulnerable to lawsuits. By encouraging better safety in the workplace, you can naturally reduce the chance of employee accidents. For more tips on how to encourage better safety in the workplace, keep reading.
Slip-and-Fall Accidents
One of the most common types of work-related injuries are slip and falls. Just as the name suggests, this occurs when a worker slips on the floor and falls. While some people may walk away from such accidents when just minor bruising, others may suffer from broken broken bones, lacerations, debilitating pain, swelling and more.
Slip-and-fall accidents generally fall into one of two different categories: elevated and non-elevated. Non-elevated slip-and-fall accidents occur at ground and level and are more common. Elevated slip-and-fall accidents are less common but also more serious.
Identify Potential Hazards In The Workplace
The first step in creating a ‘safe’ workplace is to identify potential hazards. If a certain area, machine or object poses a risk to employees, make a note of it. Using this information, you can prioritize them from most serious to least, while working to fix the most serious offenders. Here’s a short list of some potential dangers in the workplace:
- Floor areas where oil is constantly leaking
- Areas around forklifts and other heavy equipment
- Chemical storage
- Factory lines
- Areas with extreme heat or cold
- Sharp metal
- Electrical equipment
Training Employees
Of course, you’ll also want to focus some of your time and resources on training employees to practice better safety. One idea is to reward employees who follow the company’s safety guidelines with a plaque or trophy. Another idea is to set up a safety bulletin board in your workplace that’s filled with information about safety procedures, what to do in the event of an injury, required safety gear, etc. The bottom line is that you want safety to be a top priority with your employees, so make sure you’re instilling this principle to them on a regular basis.
Employee recognition goes a lone ways in building a safer workplace. When employees are recognized for taking additional steps to maintain a safe working environment, why not reward them? The cost of a plaque or trophy is a small price to pay for creating a safer workplace.