Each year, accidents in the workplace are believed to cost UK businesses approximately £14.1bn. This figure is made up of everything from sick pay and replacement workers’ salaries to legal costs and a loss of business. With statistics showing that more than 600,000 people were injured at work in 2015/16, it’s clear that businesses need to do more to minimise the risk of accidents and keep employees safe. Here are just a few ways you can do just that:
Train employees
Health and safety training is often looked down on by employers and employees alike, with many accusing the practice of being time consuming, costly and disruptive. However, with hundreds of people getting injured at work each year as a result of insufficient training, it makes sense for business owners to devote time and money to ensuring everyone understands how to stay safe and minimise the risk of accidents.
Ensure everyone is wearing safety clothing
Whether or not your employees need to wear safety clothing will of course depend on the type of business you operate. If you run a busy kitchen in a restaurant, your staff may need anti-slip shoes, while those working on a construction site may need hard hats, steel toe capped boots and high visibility vests. Ensure that you have clear guidelines outlining exactly what your employees should be wearing.
Encourage the reporting of hazards
In some workplaces, potential hazards may go unreported because workers don’t want to create more work for themselves and other colleagues. However, these hazards could have the potential to cause injuries if not resolved quickly. To reduce the chance of someone getting hurt, encourage members of staff to report any hazards that they see to a senior member of staff.
Keep on top of workplace cleaning
Slips, trips and falls are one of the most common causes of accidents in the workplace. Often, this type of accident is caused by inefficient cleaning and untidy premises. By ensuring you have an effective cleaning schedule and floors and walkways are kept clean and tidy, you can often reduce the likelihood of slips, trips and falls.
Professional cleaning tools such as scrubber dryers, mini road sweepers and pressure washers can also reduce the risk of accidents by drying surfaces immediately after cleaning them.
To learn about our industrial cleaning equipment hire service, please get in touch with the team at Karcher Hire. We can help you introduce business-changing tools into your company without having to factor large expenses into your budget.
