No matter what type of business you operate, the health and safety of your employees has a direct impact on the success of your company. That’s why having a cohesive health and safety policy is such an essential part of your business strategy. The details of that policy will vary significantly depending on the industry you work in and the number of employees you have, but the need for it is universal, and it will help make your company more profitable in the long run.
Creating a System
When you’re ready to begin creating a health and safety system tailored to your company’s needs, the best thing to do first is complete a thorough inspection of your workplace to identify potential risks and hazards. You should also evaluate your existing training and operational guidelines to confirm thoroughness and relevance, and rewrite these as needed.
Getting Everyone Involved
As you’re creating your system, it’s a good idea to request input from your employees and managers as well. Not only will their responses give you insight into areas you might not be familiar with or could have easily overlooked, but it will also make everyone more invested in the success of the program. When people have influence on an outcome, they begin to take ownership of the process, and that will only help you move towards your ultimate goal of improving workplace safety.
Thorough Training
Once you’ve established your new health and safety system, you need to thoroughly train all current employees on every aspect of it. Understanding not only what to do but why it should be done that way is essential to getting everyone to buy in, and that’s particularly true of veterans who’ve likely been doing things one way for a long time. Comprehensive training for new employees is also vital, and it should simply become a part of all new employee orientations.
Ongoing Assessment
Just because you’ve created a health and safety system once doesn’t mean the work is done, though. The key to keeping your employees safe and successful over the long term is an ongoing process that requires periodic reevaluation to ensure policies and procedures do not become outdated. Equipment must be kept in good working order or replaced as well, and this schedule of assessments should be something that’s built into your system from the beginning.
Lasting Benefits
There are plenty of benefits to a comprehensive health and safety system, including fewer missed days of work by employees, fewer worker’s compensation claims, lower insurance costs, and an overall better atmosphere in the workplace. If you’d like to learn more about the ways we can help you devise a health and safety system tailored to the needs of your business, or the range of business insurance policies we provide, contact our offices today.
