When you’re setting up a new business, making sure your place of work is safe should be one of your top priorities. It’s essential to build your business on a solid foundation, and you should always ensure the place is free of hazards and that your staff feel comfortable working there at all times.
This isn’t just good practice – it’s a legal requirement. There are several elements you must get right in order to operate, and ticking all the boxes requires a great deal of thought and effort on your part.
Understandably, this can be quite daunting for new business owners, as it’s often anxiety-inducing knowing that people’s safety is in your hands. Ultimately, though, it’s manageable, and taking the time to develop a proper system means much less work later down the line. In this article, you learn a few things to get you started.
Trip Hazards
One of the biggest dangers you’ll need to take steps to mitigate in the workplace is trip hazards. There are many different ways someone could fall over, from tripping over a wire to slipping on spilt liquid, so it’s important to have a framework of rules in place that covers as much as possible.
Prevention is always the best course of action, so make sure you have regular meetings that discuss the biggest risks and how to prevent them, such as ensuring cables are kept out of the way of walkways, spillages are cleaned quickly, and floors are unobstructed and free of clutter.
Electrical Safety
Everyone knows electricity comes with a lot of risk, but unfortunately, far too few people take the steps necessary to prevent the dangers. Thankfully, electricity-related hazards are relatively easy to control.
For starters, every professional building must undergo inspections for fixed electrical systems. If you need it, commercial electrical remedial work is carried out as part of an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), and once everything is confirmed to be safe, you’ll receive a certificate.
There’s also an onus on you and your staff to exercise proper electrical safety, like ensuring extension units are never overloaded and taking care not to bring liquids near electrical devices.
Health and Hygiene Measures
Basic health and hygiene measures are a must, and there are several aspects to consider under this umbrella.
First up is the kitchen or canteen. Communal spaces like these need to be kept tidy, with food stored away appropriately or refrigerated if it needs to be, and there shouldn’t be dirty pots, pans, and mugs left about.
Bathrooms should be cleaned every day, with surfaces and fixtures wiped down with a professional-grade antibacterial cleaner, and you should put signage up to make sure people are exercising good hygiene when they use these facilities (you’d be surprised at how effective simple signs can be).
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, you now feel you have a better understanding of workplace safety. The above points by no means cover everything, but they’re a start.
Implementing good policies doesn’t need to be the slog you imagine it to be – it just requires a little time and patience. Good luck!
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