When we come to work, we expect to care. Earning money should be a safe endeavor so you can work a productive day, earn a living, and get home every night without any incidents. This is mostly routine, but sometimes, hazards or situations can cause danger or injury.
Is your job secure and safe? Unsafe working conditions, outside threats, or procedures that are not in your best interest could all occur. However, regardless of what you may face while trading time for money, you shouldn’t be exposed to danger. Fortunately, your employer can implement protective practices. Every team member will be safer and secure with the right setup and rollout.
Let’s discuss some best practices for workplace safety.
1. Build a Solid Program
Employers should follow federal workplace safety guidelines. Beyond this, a program tailored to each position and duty should be implemented to address the specifics of your industry and operation.
This starts at employee onboarding, where safety orientation material is provided for you to read and sign. Training programs for specific business roles follow, and tours through the workplace are also conducted to orient new hires to best practices at work.
Ongoing safety meetings and workflow discussions help identify hazards and make adjustments to ensure everyone follows the program without barriers. This is crucial so that both the employer and the employee share the responsibility and burden of workplace safety.
2. Keep the Workplace Clean
Whether you work on a shop floor, office, or construction site, you should strive for a clutter-free workplace. Equipment, supplies, materials, and garbage build up, creating barriers employees must navigate.
All employees should take care of their immediate work area and not contribute to the buildup in shared spaces. Slips, trips, and falls account for many workplace injuries and deaths, so our workplace must be clean.
3. Weapon Detection Technology
A weapon detection system operates silently in any space you want to scan for weapons like knives, guns and other restricted items that may pose a threat. You can easily place gateways that people must pass through at entry points, and these effectively detect a threat before it is used.
Threat alerts are sent to security personnel, who can quickly thwart any life-threatening event, keeping all employees and visitors safe from harm. This can also be part of a more significant threat detection system involving facial recognition, restricted access pathways, and video monitoring for a comprehensive protection plan.
4. Use PPE
Personal Protective Equipment is the gear you wear when hazards occur while working. This includes:
- Gloves
- Gowns
- Face shields
- Hard hats
- Steel toed boots
- Shoe covers
These items offer protection against materials and situations you are exposed to during your work day and allow for safe operation and management. Always use PPE to protect yourself and your coworkers from illness or injury.
5. Take Personal Responsibility for Your Own Well Being
Human error in the workplace accounts for many injuries or illnesses, so we must be aware while on the job. This can be as simple as taking a sick day when needed so you don’t spread your cold or flu to coworkers. Being under the influence of a drug also puts you and others at risk. In addition, not being trained on your equipment is dangerous for everyone.
Practice self-care at work. This includes stretching before any physical task and taking regular breaks when needed. Whether you are erecting steel or writing memos, we all need to recognize our physical and mental limits and work within them.
6. Security
When you go to work, there is also the potential for outside threats that put you and your coworkers in danger. Theft is a problem after working hours, but it can also occur during the day when intruders or unwanted guests try to gain entry.
Doors should always be secure unless it is a retail location where customers come and go. Offices and storage areas can be locked with different access levels through keys, fobs, keypads, and biometric scanning to gain entry.
Other workplaces have a bigger traffic flow for things like:
- Learning institutions
- Arenas
- Conference buildings
- Outdoor venue spaces
- Airports
Security screening can be intrusive and unsightly and create a bottleneck for patrons and employees alike. It also alerts unwanted guests to recognize and work around. Fortunately, there is more robust security equipment that can work in the background to defend and protect more efficiently.
These best practices for workplace safety are intended to protect workers and provide a safe environment on the job. Encourage your employer to adopt as many of these as possible.
