As an employer, it’s your duty to address safety risks in high-risk work environments. Not only is this a requirement to comply with health and safety regulations, but it’s also vital for protecting their health and your reputation. While you can never eradicate any risk completely, you need to take all the steps possible to address safety risks in high-risk work environments. In this article we take a look at some key steps to help you effectively manage these.
Conduct regular risk assessments
Risk assessments are vital for enabling you to see where there might be issues in your workplace and identify how you can minimise these. Risk assessments involve you analysing every part of your business identifying any potential hazards from the smallest up to the most severe. You need to evaluate how likely it is that accidents could happen and how severe these would be. You then need to list out the actions you can take to stop this from occurring.
Have the right safety equipment
Safety equipment in the workplace is vital, particularly in high-risk work environments such as factories and warehouses. Ensure you provide employees with appropriate PPE for the tasks they do, such as hard-hats, gloves, safety boots, hearing protection and high-vis vests. Thesis should be regularly inspected and maintained so it is effective against risks. You should also get PPE plus other safety equipment such as signs to detail of spillages, from specialized safety companies like Seton. Here you can find everything from first aid supplies and traffic and car park management, to fire safety equipment and everything in between.
Provide proper training
As an employer in a high-risk work environment you should provide comprehensive safety training for all employees. This should focus on the basics, to the specific risks they might encounter to ensure they know what to do in all eventualities, as well as avoid anything bad happening. Regularly offer refresher courses which can help them to keep their knowledge up to date.
Ensure everyone knows what to do
Ensure there are clear safety protocols for high-risk operations that everyone knows they need to follow. You can have signs up detailing what to do, as well as additional employees to supervise. Make sure all workers are clear with the protocols and what needs to be done and that they all have access to safety documentation. Ensure everyone knows what needs to happen in the case of an emergency, from who has to be contacted, to any first aid that can be administered. There should be clearly labelled first-aid boxes available wherever they might be needed, as well as phones so people can be contacted immediately.
These are just a few ways you can address safety risks in high-risk work environments that mean you will keep your workplace as safe as possible. There are so many things to think about as an employer, but the safety and wellbeing of your staff needs to be your top priority. What are some ways you address safety risks? Let us know!
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