No one wants to be hurt, at work or otherwise. You don’t want to have your employees injured in your workplace either. Unfortunately, there are a lot of ways to get injured at work, many of which can become extremely dangerous if employees don’t know how to deal with them. The best way to reduce risk of injury in your workplace is through a workplace safety program.

What is a Workplace Safety Program?

A workplace safety program is a way of setting up systems to prevent injuries from occurring. Usually this includes training programs, procedures to report near- miss accidents or unsafe work environments, processes to follow if an accident does happen, and workplace safety evaluations.

Dos and Don’ts When Creating an Employee Safety Program

Dos

  • Offer Training: Employees need knowledge in order to deal with safety issues quickly and efficiently. Additionally, training can help prevent safety risks in advance. Helpside offers safety training resources to clients including a convenient, online learning management system for safety, HR and other training topics that may be needed.
  • Include Protective Equipment: Protective equipment is necessary in certain workplaces. Providing the equipment and training on how to use the equipment in your safety program will keep your employees safe from unavoidable workplace dangers. In most cases, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) must be provided at no cost to the employee.
  • Conduct a Safety Audit: A safety audit will help you identify potential or existing health hazards and how to deal with them. Having a regular safety audit process in your safety program makes easier to prevent potential hazards efficiently.

Don’ts

  • Expect Employees to Report Safety Issues on Their Own: When you first implement a safety program, your employees may feel unsure about reporting safety issues. Consider including a process for reporting safety issues in your workplace safety program to make it easy for employees to report safety problems.
  • Encourage Working Too Quickly: Injuries are more likely to occur when you’re rushing. Make sure you’re considering the amount of time it takes to complete tasks safely into deadlines and safety requirements.
  • Don’t Discount Any Health Hazards: Illness, injury, operating machinery while impaired, improper training, tripping hazards, and fire hazards are all real health hazards. Discounting any of them in your safety program could cause problems.

Questions?

Do you have any questions about your workplace safety program? Reach out to Helpside at service@helpside.com to speak to one of our safety experts about your concerns.