Health and safety in the workplace: How to get started
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Ensuring your company adheres to the Health and Safety Act at Work 1974 is a legal requirement for all businesses, including sole traders. This act is in place to ensure that everyone who works or frequents your business location is kept safe at all times and risks are minimised or eliminated. Failure to adhere to these standards or put safety measures in place can land you in hot water with the law and put you at risk of fines and jail times while endangering your employees and customers too.
So how can you ensure you are following the correct process, and what do you need to do as a business owner to ensure compliance?
Read the regulations
The abovementioned act is a basic requirement you must meet, and each industry will have further rules and regulations to ensure standards are met. Be it how you store and prepare foodstuff for consumption by the general public, maintenance of equipment and safety standards in construction, to the storage of raw materials and chemicals in manufacturing. The first step is knowing what applies to you and how to adhere to the law.
Have a designated health and safety officer
Having a person in charge of ensuring you are compliant at all times can be beneficial. This person will need to know the ins and outs of the rules you need to follow to ensure safety within the workplace and the best way to practically reinforce them to allow people to carry out their job role safely. If you are running a small business, it could be that you can appoint a member of staff to carry this out for you, but if you are running a larger enterprise, then hiring someone with this specific skill set will ensure you are well placed to enforce these procedures.
Right equipment
You cannot ensure safety without buying the proper safety equipment, which can be a wide and varied aspect. Safety equipment range from locks to keep people away from unsecured or hazardous areas to providing PPE equipment, safety google, gloves and footwear for those who could be ill or injured in their job role, to ensure you have the correct cleaning supplies to hand like blue roll, hazard signs, mops and brushes to keep areas clean at all times. Look at the operations of your business specifically and ask yourself what you need to ensure everyone is safe and you are following safe working practices.
Training
Training is vital to ensure everyone knows their own personal responsibilities regarding health and safety while they work, e.g. not piling rubbish on the floors if you operate a supermarket, increasing the risk of trips and falls, or what the company needs to follow to ensure safe working conditions legally. Have all employees sign off that they have been trained and fully understand and then carry out refresher training periodically or when new legislation comes out to ensure everyone is always up to date.
Conclusion
Health and safety in the workplace is something you need to be focusing on continually to ensure you are operating legally and reducing the risk of harm and injury in the workplace. These tips can help you get started and implement an effective plan.