A 2005 Health and Safety Executive report on health and safety failures is still as important as ever. The report discusses the practices at a UK based companies (education, manufacturing, wholesale, transport, construction and healthcare) in order to determine the cost of accidents on average businesses and institutions. They discovered the cost of accidents at the firm amounted to a third of their annual profit. From paying the wages of an injured worker, loss of production, and legal expenditures, the costs can mount up after an accident in the workplace. They then released steps that the average firm could implement in order to make avoid huge costs. Here's some of those simple steps business can take in order to prevent needless expenditure in the future.
Identify Risks
Whatever line of work you are in, risk assessments are an invaluable tool in risk prevention. Whether it be a high risk environment such as a building site or warehouse, it's important to investigate the working environment and assess where trouble may lie. By considering various outcomes and eventualities in your workplace, you can evaluate where to then take measures to stop these accidents from happening.
Investigate who could be in harm's way at your business. What is dangerous for your customers may not be dangerous for your employees, and the same goes for visitors.
Decide What Prevention Measures Should Be Taken
Once the dangers and those at risk have been identified, the process of preventing these dangers becoming a reality is a lot simpler. Working with environmental protection and work safety companies and their vast range of accident prevention products will help you contain potential risks. A recent survey of senior managers discovered that 20% of small businesses in the UK have experienced safety issues with boilers and gas. These risks are very manageable, but they remain a risk for many firms because of a lack of a accident prevention policy.
Take Action
You should be pragmatic with the previous stage and carry out the planned actions discussed. These actions should be recorded and dealt with in a planned manner. Keeping everything recorded and official may come in useful in the future, should any legal situations arise.
Maintain a High Standard
The precautions taken should work at least five years later from exactly how they were implemented in the first place. Carrying out regular checks is as important as installing the measures from the start.
