For most industries, there will always be hazards that create risk for employees. The trick, of course, is trying to control and address labor safety and hygiene hazards as much as possible. If companies in the manufacturing and construction industries, for example, have the right plan, they can stay ahead of the game and mitigate those risks as much as possible.
Since we have some experience in this area, we wanted to share a few ways to address some of the labor safety and hygiene hazards that exist in the workplace.
The best way to stay ahead of any potential labor safety and hygiene hazards is to keep a living document of all workplace hazards. Perform a thorough inspection of the work area and list the hazards, the employees impacted by them, and what can be done to mitigate those hazards. In workplace safety, knowing is sometimes half the battle. You can’t do anything about safety hazards unless you know about them. The key, of course, is to perform regular inspections and self-audits so you can continue to document new hazards or safety dangers that you might have missed.
Once you have a documented list of workplace hazards, the next step is to perform a risk assessment so you can prioritize what hazards need to be addressed first. Think about how many employees are put in harm’s way by each hazard, the odds of something going wrong, and the seriousness of the outcome if something were to go wrong. Evaluating these factors will let you know your most pressing safety needs. Eventually, you’ll want to address all safety hazards, big and small. But you don’t want to just check off the easy items on your list. You need to prioritize the most dangerous hazards.
Regular training sessions and safety meetings can make a huge difference in helping to correct and address labor safety and hygiene hazards. These meetings can be a good setting for reviewing current policies and reminding employees how to handle the safety hazards that impact them the most. The more you go over pertinent information with workers, the more it’ll sink in and become second nature to them. Always remember that when it comes to safety, there’s no such thing as being too prepared.
This may sound simple and obvious, but it never hurts to put up safety signs to remind employees about labor safety and hygiene hazards and protocols. The same is true for making sure chemicals and other substances are labeled properly. Doing these kinds of things can be simple and affordable but critical to workplace safety. Considering how easy they are, there’s no reason not to do them.
It’s one thing to be open to feedback, but it’s even better to actively seek feedback from employees about labor safety and hygiene topics. The workers who are dealing with safety hazards on a daily basis will usually have a good understanding of what safety procedures are working and where things can be improved. It’s critical that employees are a part of safety decisions, which means you have to give them a voice and listen to what they have to say.
The best way to stay ahead of labor safety and hygiene hazards is to have a safety monitoring system to help organize everything you do. At EHS Insight, our safety solutions take into account all elements of workplace safety, including hazard identification, safety training, and employee communication. When it comes to safety, we don’t leave anything to chance.
If you’re hoping to improve the way you organize and manage workplace safety, give us a call and we can have our software up and running in no time.