Following on from last week’s look at the first five topics to focus on in your safety briefings, here are seven more ideas to get you started:
#6 Preventing musculoskeletal disorders
Closely linked to the topic of safety footwear, focus on the actions employees can take to reduce the risk of developing a musculoskeletal disorder or repetitive strain injury.
Our tips:
- Make sure your teams know what musculoskeletal disorders and repetitive strain injuries are, how they are caused, and what can be done to prevent them
- Provide ergonomically designed workplace safety equipment and PPE to further help reduce their risk
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#7 Fatigue management
Educate your teams on the signs and symptoms of fatigue, and the importance for their general wellbeing of proper rest, recovery and self-care.
Our tips:
- Know the risks – fatigue is a safety hazard, and the risk increases with shift length, frequency, and a reduction in rest time.
- Limit working hours, shift patterns, overtime and shift-swapping.
- If fatigue is a problem in your organisation, consult your PPE supplier to see if solutions such as anti-fatigue matting and energy rebound safety trainers could help
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#8 First aid
Do your employees know the difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest? Would they know how to save their colleague’s life in an emergency?
Our tips:
- Make sure your team has up-to-date first aid training and practical knowledge of how to use the first aid equipment in your workplace
- Install a defibrillator – when cardiac arrest strikes on average one person in the UK every six minutes, without warning, why wouldn’t you want to have one nearby?
- Talk to your teams about how to handle different medical emergencies in the workplace, so they are confident in what to do if something happens
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#9 Near miss reporting
Does your team understand how to report a near miss, and why it is important?
Our tips:
- Make the reporting process simple
Educate your teams on the importance of reporting near misses
- Praise people who make reports for the part they play in making your workplace safer
- Act on all reports, making improvements to avoid near misses developing into a future accident
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#10 Fire safety
A workplace safety staple, fire extinguishers are the first line of defence in the event of a fire. Used quickly and effectively, they can prevent extensive damage to property, injuries and even death.
Our tips:
- Make sure everyone in your team knows what to do in the event of a fire
- Ensure your fire extinguishers are not only tested yearly as per the law, but that a visual inspection is carried out weekly to ensure they remain in good condition
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#11 Spill control
Whether your business handles harmful chemicals or not, it’s important to have the correct spill control measures in place to prevent accidents and injuries. Even water can be harmful if spilt and not cleared up promptly.
Our tips:
- Effective spill control starts with making sure you have the right spill kit to hand. Find out what spill absorbents you need here.
- Provide your teams with a spill incident control checklist to ensure all spill incidents are handled correctly.
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#12 Compliance
You can have all the safety rules and regulations in the world, but if your employees don’t follow them then they won’t help to prevent accidents and injuries from happening.
Our tips:
- Make sure your employees not only know the correct safety protocols and procedures for your workplace, but understand why they are in place
- Provide your employees with high quality PPE that doesn’t just keep them safe but is also comfortable to wear and helps them do their job – this will help to ensure they wear it
- Celebrate good work in this area, and take action against those who wilfully fail to comply.
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Thank you for reading our 2-part post, 12 ideas for creating a safe workplace.
You can find an extensive inventory of site safety equipment to help you achieve this on our online store here, or contact us and we would be happy to assist with what you need.
Posted 23 Mar 2023
