Five Ways to Keep Your Staff Safe at Work

It’s often said that accidents happen when you’re least expecting them. For the vast majority of employees an accident at work is, mercifully, a rare occurrence. Every once in a while accidents do happen, particularly when you and your team are working in an environment that might be more hazardous than sitting behind an office desk.

In this blog, we’re taking a look at five things you can do to keep your staff as safe as possible and minimise any accidents that might be lurking around the corner waiting to happen.

1 Train Up 

Really, the best thing you can do to help prevent accidents is to train up your staff. Equip them with the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe and do the same for those around them.

This training shouldn’t be lip service or a quick tour of the facilities with some safety messages thrown in. You need to make sure that each member of staff is fully briefed and even tested on what they’ve learnt before they’re allowed on the floor of the warehouse or other area.

Encourage team members to increase their employability and usefulness by following practical courses that will not only help you to get your productivity up but empower them to take their job seriously and perform it to the best of their ability.

2 Reminders

You might think that having signs around the place are unnecessary and ignored by most staff but the fact they exist will serve as a reminder to that member of staff who forgets his safety helmet. 

Encourage staff to act as reminders to each other and to hold each other accountable when it comes to being reminded about wearing safety gear and following safe practices and knowing tips to maintain warehouse safety.

3 Reward Well 

When you want to maintain good safety standards consider a reward scheme. Be careful though because you don’t want to use positive reinforcement to encourage the wrong type of attitude.

You may want your staff to work fast and efficiently, getting their job done and fulfilling orders but if you reward the wrong thing, such as their speed you’re sending out quite a different signal.

Instead opt to reward teams who keep the areas in good order or who have spotted and dealt with a particular issue concerning safety. Make the rewards more than just token gestures and something tangible such as a bonus in pay or extra day’s paid annual leave.

4 Maintain Machinery

This shouldn’t have to be said but often in the cut and thrust of daily working lives, the machines we work at are left to their own devices until something goes wrong or someone gets hurt.

It’s vital that there is someone who is accountable for having any machinery serviced regularly. There should be a written record available for all staff to see clearly showing when the machine was last repaired or serviced and when that’s due again.

The same is also true of equipment on the shop floor that gets used regularly. That might be baggage ties, gloves or other personal safety equipment. When it comes to protecting your staff don’t cut corners.

5 Always Look for Improvements

That might be in the form of some new software that makes it easier to keep track of your staff training records or that can detect when there’s a fault with a piece of machinery.

New devices and better safety equipment come onto the market every day. While you’re not an endless bucket of money, consider upgrading your systems every now and again to make your whole environment that bit safer.

No one wants to see accidents at work and thankfully not many of us will have to go through either the pain of falling victim to an injury at work or the inconvenience as a manager of dealing with the fall out from an accident.

Instead treat your staff as your most valuable asset, offering them valuable and effective training to make smart decisions and stay on top of staying out of harm’s way.

Don’t cut corners with your machinery or equipment but instead be on the ball when it comes to servicing and replacing old and worn out parts and machines. 

Put all of these tips into practice and you’ll have done everything you can to keep your workforce safe and sound, even in the most testing of environments. Put safety first and your business will thank you for it.