Health and safety has long been a firm and necessary area of focus for companies and managers in the UK, but there’s still more work to be done. According to official health and safety statistics from 2021/22, 123 workers were killed in work-related accidents that year, alongside 565,000 injuries. The estimated cost of this to the economy in 2019/20 came to £18.8 billion. 

Every employer has a responsibility to keep their staff safe. To help you reduce health and safety hazards in your office or facility, follow the crucial tips below. 

Risk assessments 

Every workplace, large or small, features risks of different types. These hazards are ever-present, ready to put your employees or your business’ future at risk, so it’s important you understand, mitigate, and plan for them using a risk assessment. 

Pulling together a risk assessment isn’t too tough a task, but it’s important you craft one the right way. The Health and Safety Executive’s guide to creating thorough risk assessments is a great place to start, and includes handy examples and templates to use too. 

Employee training 

Based on the results of your risk assessment, you should give your employees training into how to reduce and avoid risks in the workplace. This might be anything from the proper actions to take during a fire, to what personal protective equipment they need to wear, all the way through to how to properly operate business-critical vehicles and machinery.  

Make sure this training is regularly updated and built upon, and you can operate assured your team won’t be put in harm’s way. 

Ventilation 

If you work in environments where it can get quite warm, then you need to ensure that you have equipment in place that can help reduce the temperature to a safe and comfortable level. By doing so, you’ll not just fulfil the environmental standards required of your industry, but potentially increase productivity too.  

To bring the right level of ventilation, air conditioning units can be a quick solution, though even opening windows across the premises can do plenty to reduce the temperature and boost air quality.  

Remove obstacles 

Ensure there are no obstacles located in parts of the workplace that experience high foot traffic. More obstacles and trip hazards only increase the chance of accidents in the workplace occurring. So, be sure employees know where to store equipment and materials, and nip any untidiness issues in the bud early on. 

 

How do you keep your workplace safe? Let us know your approach in the comments section below.