In the wake of the worldwide pandemic that devasted businesses across the different industries, health and safety concerns and issues are even more of a priority in the business landscape of 2021 and beyond. For larger businesses, the are seven health and safety considerations and issues, regardless of industry, that need to be considered and dealt with, and this includes:
- Adequate and Appropriate Staff Training
Health and safety training for every single member of your workforce is not only absolutely crucial if you want to be a professional and responsible employer, but it is also the law.
Breaking such health and safety laws and regulations can result in costly fines and other, even more severe, consequences, not to mention putting your employees in very real, physical danger. Ensure your employees are adequately trained in health and safety.
- Communication of Health and Safety Procedures to Staff
It is not enough to simply send your employees on a course to learn the correct and specific health and safety measures at your business premises. Rather it is just as crucial to maintaining a healthy and safe workplace.
Always mention safety issues at the beginning of and the close of meetings and briefings, always respond, rectify and, most importantly, record any and all health and safety incidents that occur. Ensure there is adequate signage around the entirety of the building and fire exits and fire doors are clearly marked and free from obstructions and blockages.
- Employer Liability Insurance
The importance of proper employer liability insurance cannot be underestimated. It is one of the biggest health and safety considerations for your business and is also one of the best ways to protect your company. Not only is adequate employer liability insurance a legal obligation, but it offers safe and secure financial protection from any injury suffered by an employee and provides your employees a certain level of security.
- Safety Inspection Software
Daily safety inspections of all your company’s equipment and technologies should be standard practice within your business premises, especially pertinent for larger businesses. Safety inspection software will digitalize your existing workflow, make safety inspections significantly more efficient, and ensure data collection gathered from each safety inspection is up-to-date and entirely thorough.
The numerous and detailed nature of safety inspections within large businesses is a significant consideration which, when such inspections are undertaken manually with paper-based checklist processes, takes up a large proportion of employee time and managerial stress. Paperless safety inspections noticeably diminish the time devoted to safety inspections without forfeiting and, instead, upgrading the precision and speed of the documented data.
- First Aid Provisions
As an employer, you have a plethora of legal duties and responsibilities centering around making arrangements if any one of your employees is injured or ill when at work to receive immediate attention. Essentially, immediate and proficient first aid can often prevent a minor injury from quickly developing into a major one.
Dependent on the size and nature of your individual business, plentiful and well-stocked first aid boxes that are easily accessible around the building may not be enough to satisfy the legal requirements and the moral obligations you as the employer have. It may be necessary for you to provide sufficient numbers of qualified first aiders so that someone is always available and additional training for first-aiders to deal with injuries from specific hazards pertaining to your business premises.
- The Importance of Appropriate PPE
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is now a legal requirement across a wide variety of industries, and, moreover, as a responsible and morally adherent employer, it is your duty to protect your employees as much as possible.
Employers should provide adequate and good quality PPE specific to the tasks at hand and, regardless of the specific industry your business is in, you should provide access to earplugs, gauntlets or gloves, work-appropriate, steel toe boots, hard hats or helmets, and a multitude of face masks, especially in the current, post-pandemic climate.
- Covid-19 Compliance
Even though the country and the world as a whole are now finally coming through the other side of the devastating coronavirus pandemic, there are certain measures that are not only legal requirements businesses regardless of size and industry but, as a responsible employer, you are morally bound to provide to ensure not only the physical safety of your workforce but to also protect their mental health and well-being.
Provide as many sanitization stations as possible across the entirety of the workforce, both front of house where customers and clients can access and back of house in staff rooms and other private areas. Arrange for your cleaning staff to ramp up their cleaning efforts and, instead of coming in every evening or morning, arrange for them to clean at both times and, if you simply don’t have the in-house manpower, it may be time to hire an external cleaning company.
Even if in your particular country and state it is now only optional for you and your staff to wear facial coverings, it is in the best interest of the entirety of your workforce to continue to wear facial coverings, especially if your staff are customer-facing.
