If your company has the goal of creating a safe workplace, it’s best to start simple. That means addressing some of the most common accidents at work. Once you have the basics down, you can move onto more advanced safety measures. But the best thing you can do to set a good foundation is to understand the accidents and injuries that are most likely to occur and minimize your risk of those taking place.
While this can vary from one industry to the next, here are the most common accidents at work no matter what your company does and how you can address them.
It sounds almost foolish to say, but one of the most common accidents at work is employees slipping, tripping, ad falling down. This can happen at a conventional office just as easily as it can happen at a manufacturing plant or warehouse. Obviously, some of these workplaces are more dangerous than others, yet it still happens everywhere. Part of the key is making sure that employees have the right footwear on to avoid careless falls. It also helps to keep the workplace clean and tidy, cleaning up any spills right away and removing any clutter or misplaced objects because these only increase the chances of someone slipping.
When it comes to workplaces that involve physical labor, strained muscles and any kind of musculoskeletal injuries are common. This can happen with heavy lifting or any activity that requires strenuous or repetitive activities. The good news is that most of these injuries can be prevented by paying attention to ergonomics. That means training employees to lift heavy objects the right way or stretching the right way before working. It also helps to take frequent breaks from repetitive activities so that the body has a chance to rest.
There is a reason why we start preparing for fires in school with fire drills, and it’s because even as adults, they are among the common accidents at work. Again, there is no difference between a conventional office or a manufacturing warehouse. Fires are possible anywhere and everywhere, so companies of all kinds need to be prepared for them. Obviously, understanding how you can mitigate fire hazards in the workplace is a great start. Another key step is training employees to use fire extinguishers and teaching them how to evaluate the building safely. Fortunately, these are all things that local fire departments can assist companies with accomplishing.
Any workplace that has motorized vehicles moving around needs to be extra careful. Forklifts and other vehicles are common in certain industries and could easily strike a person, a wall, or another object, potentially injuring both pedestrians or those in the vehicle, not to mention causing property damage. Needless to say, safety training and hiring safe drivers are critical to preventing these types of accidents. There could also be ways for a workplace to reduce the instances that these vehicles are driving close to pedestrians.
While these are among the most common accidents at work, they aren’t the only ones. The best way for any company to protect itself is with a comprehensive safety management system. EHS Insight offers safety solutions that can be the perfect way to improve your approach to occupational safety. Our software is designed to track and monitor every aspect of workplace health and safety, including hazards, training, compliance, and communication. It’s all-encompassing and gets the job done in a cost-effective way.
If you want to make sure all of your bases are covered when it comes to preventing workplace accidents, let’s have a conversation about all of the ways our software can help you be safer.