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Employees Increasingly Concerned With Safety at Work? – 7 Steps Your Business Should Take.

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Employees Increasingly Concerned With Safety at Work? – 7 Steps Your Business Should Take.

 In 2019, the United States witnessed a 2% increase in fatal work injuries from 2018, with over five-thousand deaths. This is the highest annual number of fatal workplace injuries since 2007, so it’s no surprise that employees across the United States are becoming increasingly concerned with safety at work.

 

 

 

 

Even with OSHA signage posted at every corner of your workplace, there may be some unsafe working conditions on the premises that you’re not aware of. Still, even if you’ve dotted all your I’s and crossed all your T’s, there are seven steps your business should take to help employees feel safe and at ease.

1. Train Your Employees Well

This step is essential to improving safe working conditions but is often overlooked by business owners and human resource managers alike.

Training new employees how to do their job and fit in with the rest of the team is a basic expectation during the hiring process, but you should also be training them in all of the relevant safety procedures for their tasks and the area they’ll be working in. They’ll be able to handle an emergency quickly if one occurs and prevent any minimal injuries from happening.

Additionally, performing annual or biannual safety reviews is a great way to make sure everyone remembers their training. If you’re unhappy with their progress, then you can restart the training process.

2. Listen to Employee Concerns

Keeping an open line of communication between yourself and your employees benefits many areas, including safety. Listening to employees’ concerns about unsafe areas in the workplace is especially important if you tend to be sequestered away in an office for most of the day or out meeting with clients and partners.

 

When an employee notices an unsafe area or a coworker violating safety protocols, you should be open and accepting of their concerns, as any hostility will demotivate them from coming forward. Sometimes, employees will prefer to be kept anonymous (especially when reporting a coworker), so consider creating an anonymous concerns and comments box.

 

Once you receive a viable concern, address it quickly so your employees know that you care about their safety.

 

3. Keep a Clean Environment

An untidy workplace can lead to unprecedented and dangerous workplace injuries. Leaving equipment or trash in an open walking area means that someone can easily trip and break something or a nearby piece of equipment. Everyone should also clean up spills quickly, and any boxes or equipment stored and stacked neatly.

 

Perform regular workplace inspections to make sure everything is tidy and organized.

 

4. Post Signs and Labels

Signs and labels are a valuable, low-cost tool that can help reduce workplace injuries when used correctly. There are plenty of safety signs created by OSHA and ANSI that help remind employees of proper procedures, like wearing a hard hat in specified areas or watching for forklifts in a busy warehouse.

 

Placing these signs in designated areas means that employees will follow proper procedures and watch their surroundings. You can also post signs reminding workers to keep their areas clean and frequently stretch to prevent muscle injuries.

 

Continue Reading: https://www.insightssuccess.com/employees-increasingly-concerned-with-safety-at-work-7-steps-your-business-should-take/.

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