As an employer, you naturally are focused on keeping your workers safe from harm. Each individual in your team may have been carefully selected and provides true benefits to your company. Even the temporary loss of skilled labor can be devastating for a company. There are also financial concerns associated with workplace injuries, such as productivity and morale issues, workplace compensation claims and even the possibility of a personal injury lawsuit being filed against your company if a serious injury occurs. There are several steps that you can and should take now that can decrease the likelihood that your company will experience expensive workplace accidents.
Identify Potential Hazards in Your Workplace
As a first step, you can and should identify all potential hazards in your workplace. Take time to observe each worker in action, and think about the worst-case scenario in terms of injury and risk. This may include tripping over electrical cords, falling down stairs, being electrocuted, falling off of ladders and much more. Even in a seemingly safe environment, such as in a typical office, workplace injuries can happen. When you take time to identify the potential hazards in the workplace right now, you can then identify ways to protect your workers from injuries. For example, you may add a safety rail or secure electrical cords in a different way.
Understand the Law
Employers are required by law to provide their workers with a realistically safe work environment. This means that all obvious hazards should be addressed. In some work environments, specific OSHA requirements may be enforced, and you should learn more about these as well. When you understand the laws related to workplace safety and workplace injuries, you can reduce your risks of fines and lawsuits while also taking necessary steps to keep your valued workers safe from harm.
Enforce the Use of Safety Gear and Equipment
In many work environments, employers have provided their team with all necessary safety gear to prevent injuries, but workers do not regularly use the gear. For example, in a construction zone, some workers may not wear safety helmets and vests because of the heat associated with working outdoors or because the helmet moves around on their head while they are working. This is just one of many examples of workers cutting corners in the area of safety, and this type of issue can result in serious financial loss for your company in a worst-case situation. You may consider instituting a penalty system for your workers if they fail to follow the safety rules that you have created to protect them. For example, after three strikes, they may be terminated.
Rely on Third-Party Services and Contractors
Another great idea is to completely outsource some of the more dangerous aspects of your work environment. For example, your shipping and procurement warehouse may be filled with red flags. Boxes could topple over onto your workers, or workers could be injured by heavy machines. You could consider using a third party logistics provider or drop ship company to assist with the shipping aspect of your business, and this could dramatically decrease the liability risk that your company faces
Many employers will need to deal with various workplace injuries over the years. While many injuries are relatively minor and the worker can recuperate within a matter of days, other injuries result in long-term or permanent disability or even death. These more serious issues can result in serious financial loss for a company. You can follow these helpful tips today to reduce the liability risk that your company may have to deal with over the years. Because you never know when an accident will strike, there is no better time than right now to take action.
