Ask anyone what the most important thing at work is and they might say having a positive work environment. I agree with this completely – with one small caveat. I totally value the importance of having a positive work environment, but would like to drill down a little further into this statement. Bear with me, if you will. Having a positive work environment is impacted by a couple of key things, and one of these is safety. Having a safe work environment makes people feel more secure about their workspace which in turn creates a better feeling in general. If you ever have had the displeasure of working in an environment where safety isn’t a focus, it’s likely you feel as though that management does not care about you and your wellbeing! Not very positive for morale… A safe workspace isn’t something that happens by chance – far from it. You need to take a very systematic approach to finding the best way to keep safe, and remaining focused on fixing any hazards or risks. If you do this, you’ll find that people feel protected – because they will be. Let’s take a look at the best way to create a safer office, brought to you by Safe Response.
- Consult with staff to find hazards in the workspace
The first point of call for your workspace safety check needs to be your staff. They are the ones who will notice things that might be unsafe in the workspace and can comment best on the safety of the workspace overall. Another awesome part of consulting with your staff on the safety of your workspace is that people will feel more invested and committed to a safe workspace when they are asked to be part of things from the start. Double win.
- Keep areas clutter free
A key part of having a safe workspace is ensuring that you focus on keeping clutter and unnecessary items to a minimum. If there’s no detritus lying around, then it stands to reason that people won’t be able to trip on it! Make sure people are responsible for emptying their own bins or at the very least tidying up after themselves if you don’t have a full service cleaner.
- Use correct lifting techniques
A safe worker doesn’t lift with their back – they use their knees! Be sure to train everyone in the workspace on the correct way to lift to avoid injury. This is something that everyone should know anyway, and will be of use throughout people’s lives.
- Make people take ownership of their own safety
As i mentioned in point one, it’s important to ensure that people take responsibility for their own safety, as this fosters a greater focus on community culture.
- Create a safe culture in the workspace
This works in synchronicity with your employees taking ownership of their own safety, but having a safe culture will ensure that your staff and workplace remain incident-free. Things like having posters up and prompts for safety will help to enforce this.
- Hold regular meetings
Safety meetings will keep the focus on safety and will ensure that your staff remain focused on their responsibility to see something, say something.
- Review the hazards regularly and keep on top of any new problems
Once you have things ticking along nicely with your safety focus, it’s important to keep reviewing things and to stay on top of any potential new problems.
- Use OH&S requirements
If you’re stuck at any point, remember that there is a body responsible for regulating occupational health and safety, and they have numerous guidelines and rules for keeping a safe workspace.
Good luck with keeping your office safe and keeping your employees happy.