As a business leader, keeping your employees safe should always be a top priority for you. Not only is it the right thing to do, but a safe workplace also helps your business to run smoothly. And the last thing that you need to worry about is business interruption. Happy, healthy employees are more productive, more engaged, and more loyal, and you’ll have fewer instances of employee absenteeism if the workplace is safe.
However, workplace safety goes far beyond fire drills and first aid kits. You have to include everything from physical security to mental health support. One way to enhance safety in a simple and effective way is by using tools like the Genetec Access Control system. This system can help you to manage who can enter or exit specific areas of your business.
Technology is just one part of a bigger picture though, so let’s take a look at the many ways that you can create a safer, more secure, and more comfortable work environment for everyone in your workplace.
Start with thorough risk assessments.
Before you can protect your people, you need to understand the risks that they face. Every workplace is different, and a warehouse, for example, will have different hazards compared to a marketing agency. Proper risk assessments involve you identifying potential dangers in the workplace and evaluating who could be harmed and how the potential dangers can be anything from heavy machinery to poor lighting. Deciding which steps they needed to take to reduce or eliminate these risks are the last thing you need to think about. It’s a good idea to do this regularly though, especially after any changes to the workspace, team structure or equipment.
Make sure safety is a part of your business culture.
Safety goes far beyond rules. It should be part of the company culture for everybody to understand what safety means and how to keep each other safe. If everybody is responsible for maintaining the safety and the integrity of the workplace, then you’ll have a much more secure building with everybody on board. Creating an environment where many eyes are looking for danger can help everybody to stay in control of themselves in the office. You can build this culture by leading by example.
As a manager and a business owner, you should be following safety procedures at all times, but so should the rest of your leadership team. You should be communicating about safety regularly via internal messages, meetings or training sessions, and then you should praise and recognise employees who help to maintain that safe workplace environment. If safety is a shared goal, that entire team will benefit.
Don’t skip training.
While we’re on the topic of keeping everybody safe, you need to remember that training your employees thoroughly will ensure that that’s the case. Training is a critical piece of the safety puzzle because employees can’t follow the rules if they don’t know what they are. Training should include everything from emergency procedures to equipment usage. Posture for desk workers is also important, alongside cyber security awareness and phishing scam awareness. Training should be ongoing and not just a one time event where someone joins the company. Refreshes keep safety on top of everybody’s minds and it should absolutely be at the top of your priority list a few times per year.
Improve physical security in the office.
Physical security is so much more than locked doors. You want to control who enters and exits your building, who has access to sensitive areas, and how many people move through the space. You can boost physical safety by including keycards or ID badges, surveillance cameras, and knowing the emergency exit. These things should be clearly marked and always accessible. It also is a good idea to ensure that you have visitor logs so that you can keep track of who’s coming and going every day.
Use your technology wisely.
Modern safety tools can make a huge difference to your office space or your warehouse. In addition to any excess control systems, there are other types of technology that can help you to maintain safety procedures. Smart lighting, for example, will automatically turn on lights in dark areas, car parks or stairwells. This is especially handy in emergency situations. Environmental sensors will detect gas leaks, fires or early flooding. You can use wearable safety devices, too, to alert workers to risks or track movement in hazardous areas. Technical solutions like these work best when they’re easy to use and integrated with your overall safety plan.
Keep your workspaces organised.
It may sound like a basic thing to do, but a tidy workspace presents a lot of opportunities to prevent injuries. Cluttered desks, tangled cords, and unmarked spills are all common causes of accidents that could be avoided.
Be prepared for emergencies.
From natural disasters to medical incidents, emergencies can happen at any time of day or night. While you can’t predict everything, you can be prepared because it’s always better to over prepare than under prepare. Preparation includes first aid kits being stocked and accessible on every floor, knowing who the emergency contacts are on every floor and department for your building, and knowing what the evacuation plans are. Communicating all of this information to your employees is also very important. Fire drills are another thing you should be building into your business every day because practice makes perfect.
Ensure that everyone can communicate.
Open communication is a must if you’re looking to keep people safe in the workplace. Employees should feel comfortable speaking up when they see something unsafe. Sometimes they’re the first to notice a problem when you can’t be there, for example, wobbly hand rails, blocked exits or aggressive behaviour on busy floors. Creating a system where people can report issues anonymously, get fast feedback or follow-ups on their concerns and offer suggestions for improvement will go a long way. A simple suggestion box or internal safety form can also help, because the more eyes and voices focused on safety, the better.
Focus on mental and emotional wellbeing.
Employee safety is not just physical. Burnout, stress and harassment can all affect mental health, and that in turn affects safety. Employees who are distracted or overwhelmed are more likely to have an accident. When you offer flexible work schedules, provide access to counselling or employee assistance programs, and encourage regular breaks, you’re going to prevent injuries and support mental Wellness.
Protect against digital threats.
More and more workplaces depend on digital tools, and that comes with a range of risks. Hackers don’t need to walk through the front door to cause some serious damage, and it just takes one scam link to bring down your entire system. To protect against cyber threats, you should make sure that you are targeting specific training for this, using 2 factor authentication and updating your software and antivirus programs regularly. If you limit access to sensitive data based on job roles, you’ll see that cyber security is a growing part of safety in the workplace, which means that it shouldn’t be overlooked.
Adapt to remote work.
Workplace safety isn’t limited to the traditional office environment anymore. Many people work from home or on the road, and that means you need to spread your safety policies and evolve them correctly. For remote or hybrid workers, consider their ergonomic desk setup at home and create allowances for this. There should also be VPNs and secure connections for accessing company data from a distance. Alongside these, having mental health check insurance and round tables on Zoom can really make a big difference to people’s mental and physical well-being.
Encourage healthy habits at work.
Sometimes promoting health is the best way to prevent harm. If you have the right Wellness initiatives, you’re going to ensure that your employees are happy and healthy in the office. Standing desks or ergonomic chairs are a good choice for your employees who want to be able to move around or be comfortable in the office. Healthy snacks in the breakfast and subsidized gym membership can help people to remain healthier and feel comfortable and not fatigued. You could also look into vaccination drives or health screenings because healthy employees are not only less likely to get injured, but they’re more productive and energized.
Review your safety policies regularly.
The workplace changes, and so should your safety plans. Reviewing your safety practices at least twice a year is important. Ask yourself what’s working well and what needs improvement, and then make a plan for both. You can use surveys or team feedback to make informed updates. Safety isn’t something that you sit and forget, It’s an ongoing process that takes time to hone.
Creating a safe workplace doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You have to be thoughtful in your planning, clear in your communication, and use the right tools to ensure that it happens. Safety is an investment in your business, and not just in the protection of people, but the strength of your business too. When employees feel safe, they’re free to do their best work, and that wins for everybody.
