As a business owner, your employee’s health and wellbeing should be your top priority. A happy workplace is a healthy workplace, so no matter what field your business is in, ensuring your colleagues are well looked after is crucial. Whether it be pointing out the fire exits or putting up a poster to show the layout of your building, here are five steps to keeping your employees safe in the workplace.

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Assess the Environment

The environment that you and your team work in should be deemed safe and habitable to use. Determining how safe your workspace actually is will help you identify any problems and nip them in the bud immediately. Whether it be ensuring your electrical sockets are up to standard or getting rid of any trip hazards, there are all sorts of things that you can do to reduce the risk of any work-related injuries. There are simple fixes that you can do too, such as tidying up cables.

Hold Regular Meetings

As the owner of the business, it’s you who is held responsible should a work-related injury occur. If your employees face any problems at work, you will want them to come to you, so make sure to hold regular meetings that can be used to iron out any issues. While you may think you’re doing everything in your power to keep your team safe, there can be problems that slip the net, so if your team are concerned about something, make sure to listen to what they have to say.

Designate Leaders in Your Team

Every person that you employ in your business should have a basic understanding of health and safety. Not only can this benefit themselves, but also everyone else in the company. To ensure that your team is safe and protected in the workplace, why not designate leaders in your group who will be able to coordinate and help others should an emergency arise? Having employees who can remain calm and collected in stressful situations is important, so assigning roles accordingly is key.

Providing the Correct Equipment

If you run a construction business, for example, ensuring your team are wearing the right equipment is crucial. Whether it be wearing a safety harness, carbon fiber hardhats or protective gloves, your employees should be fitted with the correct gear to perform their job correctly. Health and safety should always come first no matter what, so be sure to address this before employing others to your company.

Have a Drill in Place

When running a business, you are responsible for your employees. While fire drills can be a nuisance to employees, you need to show them how to exit the building, where to stand, and how to act throughout. Once outside, your team needs to understand how to account for everyone too. It’s important to conduct practice runs, which can help reduce the number of accidents and injuries should an emergency strike. Also, it’s mandatory for your premises to have smoke alarms fitted to ensure your employees are warned in the event of a fire.

From the moment your employees walk through the door, they should feel safe, protected, and welcome in the workplace. Assessing the environment, designating leaders in your team, as well as providing suitable equipment for your employees are just a few things that you can do to ensure your employees are safe in the workplace.