How to Keep Businesses & Employees Safe
A safe work environment is about more than just preventing injuries or the spread of disease, it is also about making employee well-being a priority. We’ve gathered a list of a few ways to keep employees & businesses safe, we hope you learn something & find some useful information!
Establish a safe culture
At the core of a safe work environment is employee well-being. Establishing a culture of safety, where every employee prioritizes and is held accountable for upholding a safe workplace, is essential to maintaining a safe work environment. Examples of safe work environments: walk in and out of your building in pairs. Utilize a ladder properly which means; always face the ladder when ascending or descending, keep three limbs on the ladder at all times and carry things in a tool belt or pouch so your hands are free.
Educate and remind regularly
It is important to conduct regular safety audits and review safety procedures, adjusting them as needed. Teaching one safety class and assuming workers have all the training they need is a risky proposition. If a worker performs a task in an unsafe manner, coaching or retraining should happen immediately. For example: including safety policies in your handbook is a great place to start.
Recognize & assess potential hazards
Take time to identify potential hazards and develop policies and procedures to make sure employees can do their jobs safely. Conduct regular walkthroughs in which you observe and record potential short- or long-term hazards. Check for tripping hazards, low-hanging fixtures, proper indoor and outdoor lighting, etc. Involve employees in the process. Teach them to see what you see and allow them to help write the policies and procedures.
Promote health codes and standards by educating your employees on the importance of health safety and cleanliness.
You know those signs you see when entering a restaurant bathroom next to the sink, the ones that inform you that all employees must wash their hands before exiting? Having little indicators like those are important. For example, you can put them in the washroom, in the kitchen and in general areas of heavy foot traffic is important on many fronts. The most important being health code standards, educating cleanliness and encouraging employees to take every step necessary to make the room healthy for the next individual. Basic sanitizing helps to keep germs and colds at bay and is often overlooked.
Deep-Clean Your Germy Cell Phone
You touch your cell phone a zillion times throughout the day—you may even be holding it as you read this. For instructions on how to clean your phone try this Verizon recommended method. So even if you’re diligently washing your hands properly, if you aren’t also disinfecting your phone, the second you check a text, you’re spreading germs back onto your hands. Your phone is 10 times dirtier than a toilet seat (yuck!) according to an article in Time Magazine.
Disinfect Your Keyboard
Your computer keyboard is also a germ collector. It’s full of nooks and crannies, and you likely click away at it for hours a day, all of those crevices make it difficult to keep clean. To clean it quickly, first put down the work for a minute and fully unplug it. Turn it upside down and use compressed air to remove any crumbs and dust. To disinfect, wipe the surface with a 70-percent isopropyl alcohol wipe, being careful that liquid doesn’t drip down into the keyboard.
Don’t Forget Doorknobs and Light Switch Plates
You may think that getting sick from germy doorknobs is an old wives’ tale. But according to Chuck Gerba, a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, it’s very possible. In fact, germs last longer on surfaces than you might think. To disinfect the doorknobs and light switch plates around your office cleanse them with a germ-destroying cleaning product. When cleaning light switch plates, be careful that liquid doesn’t drip into the outlet. Be sure to read the fine print on the products you are using and check the manufacturer’s directions. You may be surprised to learn how long you have to keep a product on a surface for it to kill germs and bacteria.
Falling into complacency is all too easy. Throughout daily operations, it can be easy for both workers and managers alike to lose focus and stop paying attention to health and safety. This is when accidents happen, people get injured and companies lose productivity. Following these simple steps is a sure way to help prevent injuries and keep your employees safe, healthy and happy. For more ways to positively affect your business check out our Recycling in the Workplace blog here.
