You want your business to be a safe place for your employees to work and your customers to visit. Taking extra steps to improve health and safety in your office reduces the risk of major accidents happening at your workplace, protecting your employees and your business as well.
Your business has a legal responsibility to protect its employees and members of the public who come into contact with it, and not living up to your duties can become extremely expensive. By following a few simple tips, you can help limit the number of accidents that happen at your workplace, reducing your risk of getting sued.

Slips, Trips, and Falls

One of the most common types of workplace accidents is from slips, trips, and falls. Offices are busy, vibrant places, and sometimes accidents do happen. However, you can greatly reduce the likelihood by taking health and safety seriously.
Simple steps like ensuring walkways are clutter-free, there are no trip hazards, and you have the right type of floor mats will go a long way to stopping these accidents. Different businesses will need different types of mats, so look at a company like First Mats and find the right ones for your health and safety needs.

Unsafe Lifting

You might think lifting injuries are limited to warehouses, but they’re also extremely common in the office. It’s not just heavy loads that cause injury, small loads can also cause back, shoulder, and neck pain if the right lifting technique isn’t followed.
You can’t stop your employees from having to lift things throughout the day, so safe lifting needs to be incorporated into your training materials. Once your employees have done the training, they have the knowledge to help them lift with better technique and protect themselves from injury.

Ergonomics

One of the biggest health hazards in the office is the fact that many employees spend all their time crouched over a desk. Humans weren’t designed to be sat down all day, and the wrong set up can lead to serious health problems.
There are plenty of ways you can help your employees improve their workstation and help them form healthy habits while working. Standing desks are a great way to allow employees to get their work done while standing up, and there are other ergonomic items you can encourage.
A little investment in this area can make a big difference to your employees and you’re bound to benefit from their improved health.

Safety Drills 

In the event of an emergency, it’s always best to be prepared. Through risk assessments, you should know the risks your office is most susceptible to, which means you can practice your responses to them.
Carrying out a fire drill or earthquake drill is nobody’s idea of fun, but they can save lives. You can write safety procedures, but if people haven’t practiced them, then they’re not going to work as effectively.
Practicing your emergency responses can make a huge difference in the event of a real emergency and make all the difference to your employees and members of the public.