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5 Changes To Implement In Your Office To Ensure Employee Safety

Being an employer means being responsible for the welfare and safety of your employees. Aside from providing them with healthcare insurance and other benefits to ensure their wellness, you also need to take a good look at your office.

You might need to evaluate if the environment is safe and secure enough for everyone.

Ensuring Employee Safety In The Office

While you may already have a health and safety program in place, it won’t hurt to implement a few changes that can help you better manage and prevent work-related injuries in the workplace.

Although you can’t predict when an accident may occur, implementing such changes can significantly help in minimizing common injuries at work. Accidents may even be potentially prevented if and when the working condition is suitable and apt for safety.

Here are some changes you could start implementing to ensure the safety of everyone working in the office:

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 1. Implement A Reward System For Safe Behavior

Rewards are always a nice and easy way to motivate employees in following safety guidelines and precautions in the office. Apart from the incentives, workers feel more valued if their behavior is recognized in the workplace.

It doesn’t even have to be a reward involving big gestures—small but meaningful appreciation could encourage the team to do better and behave cautiously while at work. Small rewards like gift certificates or food packs will work and might even inspire other employees to perform better.

 2. Employ Occupational Clinicians And Therapists

Having an occupational health expert in the office can help you learn more about injury prevention. Occupational clinicians and therapists highly specialize in helping companies avoid injuries at work. They visit your worksite and then identify areas or factors that pose higher risks for accidents and injuries.

These specialists will provide a comprehensive assessment so you may find ways and strategies to elevate the safety of your office. Consulting with an occupational or physical therapist can also help assess the overall ergonomics of the workplace, so they can make recommendations on how to improve it. Aside from ensuring safety, ergonomics assessment might also help in improving and maintaining productivity in the office.

 3. Get More Organized And Clutter-Free

When your office is messy, there’s an even bigger tendency it can lead to unwarranted accidents and injuries. To address this, start implementing changes concerning the organization and cleanliness of the workplace.

Boxes and crates should be stacked properly to avoid people from tripping or bumping into them. If anything spills on the floor, clean it up quickly and make sure there are signs in place while the cleaning or maintenance takes place.

Avoid cluttering unnecessary things—may it be on the floor, stairs, or any part of the office. Conduct regular inspections to make sure there are no potential dangers such as disorganized tools, messy floors, and tangled cords.

Simply implementing an office rule requiring everyone to put things back to where they were each time they’d use something can greatly help in organizing the workplace. A clutter-free and organized work environment isn’t just for ensuring employee safety—it can also help in creating a relaxing workspace for everybody.

 4. Hold Regular Meetings Regarding Workplace Safety

It may be that accidents and injuries don’t frequently occur in your office, so you don’t see the need to meet with the team to discuss the topic. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t start doing it now. Prevention is better than cure, and it’s very true when it comes to ensuring employee safety.

Meeting with the staff and other members of the organization can allow you to review the safety rules and guidelines you already have in place. Your employees can reach out to you regarding their wellness. In return, you can see where changes may be implemented.

 5. Start Implementing Stretch Breaks

Strain and stress at the workplace might be a potential cause of repetitive motion injuries. When employees have been working for long hours without breaks, they might experience muscle tension and other chronic pain such as neck or back pain.

It’s not only the employees’ health at stake if any incidents occur, but also their safety.

You can change or prevent that by implementing stretch breaks for at least five minutes every two hours or so of working. Gentle stretching can help the employees in easing and relieving muscle tension. Additionally, they can use the time to drink water or go to the restroom while on their shifts.

 Conclusion

The workplace needs to be not just productive and relaxing, but most importantly, it should be safe. There’s no such thing as overpreparation when it comes to ensuring protection. As the owner, you’re responsible for overseeing all aspects of the business, and that includes their wellness. If you want to do this, you may start implementing the changes above to ensure your office remains safe for everyone.

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