Improving health and safety standards can help any business. Everyone can benefit, from small start-ups to industry leaders, by taking a few measures to make their workplace safer and more hygienic.
It’s actually pretty easy to improve your business’ health and safety standards. In today’s day and age, it’s enough to find a trusted brand in the Commercial Office Cleaning industry, and you can rely on them for maintaining a clean workplace. However, you also need to be aware of your legal obligations to ensure that your employees and customers are safe at all times. Remember, you can be fined heavily if you fail to meet your legal obligations, so it pays to stay on top of health and safety.
Here’s How to Improve Your Business’s Health and Safety Standards:
Have Your Equipment And Workplace Cleaned and Maintained Regularly.
Health and safety compliance is not just a legal requirement but also something that can cost businesses money, incur fines and be detrimental to a company’s reputation. To avoid such consequences, businesses should have their premises cleaned regularly by hiring commercial cleaning services Lynchburg (or elsewhere). In addition, they must also ensure that their equipment is in good working condition. Otherwise, it could pose a serious risk to employees and customers. It’s best practice for businesses to regularly have their equipment checked and maintained, as this will help identify any problems before they become serious. If any equipment causes injury due to a fault and it is found that the equipment was not maintained and has not been inspected, it could result in your business being shut down.
Inspect Building and Maintain Them.
It’s your responsibility to ensure the welfare of your workers and customers. You must put safety first above profit, so poor finances are no excuse for poorly maintained buildings. Organisations have an legal obligation to ensure that their buildings are safe, meaning they should be fit for purpose and safe to be occupied. If you own an office, for example, you must ensure the building is adequately heated, cooled and ventilated. There should be no leaks and the facilities should be clean for workers to use. If you own a factory, it might not be possible to heat or cool the space, so instead, you will be expected to keep your workers comfortable by providing access to water and by providing frequent breaks. Ultimately, everything from the electrics and pipes to the roof and flooring should be safe and not pose a danger to health.
Have First Aid, Fire Safety, and Evacuation Plans in Place.
Regular safety checks are vital, especially if you’re working in a situation with the risk of fire. With risk comes responsibility, so your fire extinguishers, sand buckets, fire blankets, sprinkler systems, fire alarms and fire doors should all be present, accessible and in working condition. Similarly, first aid equipment should be provided in all workplaces. Where a risk assessment mandates it, eye wash stations and defibrillators should also be present, whilst a certain number of employees must be fully first aid trained. Also, keep in mind that first aid kids are not the same as trauma kits. This means that if the nature of the work is quite dangerous and there is a risk of life-threatening injuries, no matter how small, then trauma kits should also be within reach and proper training on how to use them should be provided. Meanwhile, a fire drill helps employees know what to do in case of a fire and also helps employees practice their evacuation routes. This is especially important for disabled employees and customers who may need an evac-chair to get downstairs if lifts are out of order, so make sure evac-chairs are installed in all necessary places, along with clear signage to ensure the evacuation route is visible even in thick smoke.
With these steps in place, your business will be a safer place to be. Workplace health and safety are of high importance for both employers and employees. Workplace accidents are a real risk, but with the right measures, they can become a thing of the past. Companies that do not follow health and safety guidelines may spend more money hiring people, inspecting vehicles, and working overtime. The regulations in health and safety are applied to help employees avoid accidents and help workers remain healthy and safe.