Regardless of the industry, you work in, a day’s work can present hazards to your well-being, even during normal business operations. While some occupations are more dangerous than others, the scope for accidents is always present no matter where you work or what you do, with an average of 2.3 million people across the globe having a workplace accident per year.
As an employer, you have a duty of care towards your staff members and should hold their safety in high regard. Accidents at work have long-lasting effects on employees and cause financial difficulties for employers, so it’s essential to stop them from happening in the first place. Below we list some of our top tips for keeping employees safe and keeping workplace accidents at a minimum:
1. Review your insurance policies.
One of the best ways employers can keep their employees safe is by regularly reviewing their safety policies and procedures and ensuring they are still relevant to the risks that your employees face during daily operations. You may have updated the way specific tasks are carried out, introduced new machinery, or relocated to a different premise – changes that your safety policies and procedures will have to mirror.
Additionally, it’s also crucial to double-check that your business insurance covers these changes to ensure that your business is protected against any situation that may arise. You also must review the central business insurance policies like your worker’s compensation insurance, as this is the primary coverage that will protect your business against any claims following a personal injury, illness, or damage.
Review your insurance policies once a year by contacting providers like The Hartford. From workers’ compensation insurance to commercial general liability insurance, they provide various policies tailored to individual business needs and budgets. Consider visiting their website for further information or contact a team member directly for any specific insurance inquiries.
2. Provide relevant training.
Without relevant and up-to-date training, employees are dangerous to themselves and everyone around them. Therefore, it is essential to provide all employees, no matter how experienced they might be, with regular training and to implement a proper training program to reduce the risk of workplace accidents.
Even though training can incur additional costs and take a while for employees to complete, it is in your company’s best interests to train all employees to protect them from accidents and yourselves from legal action.
3. Dissuade risky behavior.
During daily business operations, workplace accidents can happen for various reasons. Accidents can often occur because employees try to impress their co-workers, push themselves too hard, work harder to get a promotion, return to work without recovering from a past injury or participate in other risky behavior.
Although organizations want their employees to be as productive as possible while at work, employees often prefer to take more time-saving than safe approaches, despite shaving a few minutes off the time it takes them to complete a task. Usually, these shortcuts don’t end well, and productivity is damaged further. Dissuade risky behavior by putting a heightened focus on completing tasks safely, as opposed to a ‘time-saving’ manner that could put themselves or someone else at risk.
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