Safety in the workplace should be a no-brainer. After all, who wants to work in a hazard-filled danger zone for hours on end? However, you may be surprised to know that there are employers who get workplace safety wrong, either by enacting very loose and lax safety practices or even none at all. Either scenario can easily result in disastrous consequences that any business may have a hard time recovering from.
Don’t let it happen to your business! Here are some ways to make your workplace safer for both customers and employees.
Look Into Work Automation Technology for High-Precision, High-Repetition Work Processes
If you’re in the manufacturing industry and you have a particular step in your manufacturing process that requires a lot of precise and repetitive movements, then you may want to consider automating that step with high-precision motion solutions like linear stages or gantry systems.
While it’s possible that your workforce may be able to perform the manual actions necessary to complete such a task, they may end up suffering from muscle and joint pains due to fatigue and other injuries related to repetitive motions. This not only results in an overall loss of revenue due to lessened productivity and increased sick days, it can also create a very unsafe workplace especially if your employees attempt to keep working despite their injuries.
By having automated machines do the tedious and repetitive work, you not only streamline your production process but also increase the safety factor of your place of business.
Invest in Proper Staff Skill and Safety Training
One of the most obvious and effective ways to make the workplace safer is to invest the proper amount of time and resources for employee training. No matter how skilled or experienced your employees are, they should still undergo extensive and complete training for their job – not just in how to perform a specific task or function but also what to do in case of emergencies.
Training your staff not only teaches them the skills that can make them work smarter, it can also instill in them the necessary habits and practices to make their jobs a whole lot safer – both for themselves and for those around them. Having them trained on what to do during emergency situations can also result in an overall more safety- and security-conscious workplace. Training in the usage of certain life-saving equipment, such as defibrillators, first aid kits, and fire extinguishers, among others, are especially valuable.
Hire the Most Competent Workers for the Job
When it comes to adding new blood to your workforce, it may be tempting to go for quantity instead of quality. This approach may work out sometimes, especially if you’re woefully understaffed and you have a strict deadline to catch. However, more working hands don’t immediately mean a boost in your productivity. In fact, if you hire more people who only have the bare minimum of skills, you will most likely end up spending more to recoup the losses due to errors, additional training costs, and other similar expenses.
Never compromise when it comes to hiring new employees – pick the most competent ones, even if you have to pay more to keep them on your team. They’ll reward you with high quality workmanship as well as fewer accidents and mishaps.
Post Visible Signs and Reminders
Serious workplace accidents only take a moment of carelessness or forgetfulness to happen. You can help prevent this by ensuring that your workplace has clear and visible signs that remind everyone of the risks that they face as they go about their daily tasks, and what security/safety practices they should be doing while inside your facility. If your manufacturing area is accessible from where you usually interact with your customers, then make sure that there are signs posted that clearly forbid entry by unauthorized personnel.
You can take this a step further by assigning overseers, shift leaders, or health & safety professionals from The TRH GROUP to constantly check on your employees and remind them of what safety practices they’re supposed to be adhering to. You can also set it up so that they can point out employees who not only abide by safety practices but also take up the initiative to remind their coworkers as well. Reward these employees and make them examples that your other workers should follow.
Conclusion
You can’t really mess around when it comes to making your workplace safe. By enforcing the safety tips listed above, you can avoid the headaches and revenue-draining issues that a hazardous place of business can bring. You’ll also be boosting your employees’ morale and productivity, as they’ll be happier and more comfortable working in a safer environment. In turn, they won’t hesitate to go above and beyond the call of duty for you.