Week 15 - Importance of Safety Considerations

Importance of safety
considerations &
Major considerations in
setting-up Safety Program
WEEK 15
 Ifyou’re starting your own business, then safety
should be one of the top things on your mind
when you begin hiring employees. A bad incident
can result in expensive fines, rising workers’
compensation costs and damage to your
reputation. And those are just the direct business
costs. The human and indirect costs of workplace
injury are harder to quantify but no less
important.
8 workplace safety
considerations every
new business owner
should consider
1) Perform a job hazard analysis
A Job Hazard Analysis isn't just a document, it's a
process. By carefully documenting all of the known
risks associated with every task performed by your
workers, you can then carefully plan on the best ways
to reduce these risks to your workers.
 Startby creating a list of every job or duty that will be
performed in your workplace. Then carefully document
every likely hazard employees will face in performing
those duties. This will give you an itemized list of all
the necessary training you will need to provide in order
to ensure the safest possible work environment
2) Regular practice enforces safe
habits
 Repeated safety drills and presentations may get a little
tiresome and tedious but repetition leads to habit.
Running your employees through simulated scenarios
like a spill, a trip hazard, a gas leak and other risky
situations will help improve their reactions if those
problems ever come to pass. When the worst does
happen, they will know immediately how to act.
Remember, a knowledgeable employee is a safe
employee.
 Not
only will repeated safety training help protect your
team, they can also save you money in the long-term.
3) Enforce the rules of reporting
 The adage, “If you see something, say

something,” is a great motto for workplace safety.
Unfortunately, workers who come from toxic work
environments may believe that they will get in
trouble for reporting dangerous working
conditions to their employers. That’s why it’s so
important to teach employees to promptly report
all hazards, or potential hazards, to management.
4) Provide personal protective
equipment
 Although it may seem counterintuitive to an outsider,
providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is
actually considered to be the "least effective"
component within the workplace safety
hierarchy of controls.
 In order of importance, the hierarchy of controls
includes eliminating the hazard, replacing the hazard,
engineering controls to isolate workers from the
hazard, and administrative controls to change the way
dangerous work is performed. The hierarchy places
safety equipment
5) Lead by example
 Make sure that your managers are always wearing

and using the proper equipment whenever
venturing into a hazardous area. Employees really
will take their cues from their team leaders,
which is why leading by example is a great way to
make sure your employees stay safety compliant.
If your employees see managers ignoring safety
requirements, they soon will too.
6) Reward safety awareness
 Things like small gifts for outstanding workplace safety
can encourage your employees to be more vigilant and
dedicated to keeping themselves, their co-workers and
their place of employment safe. A great goal to shoot
for is a zero-incident workplace. Employees and teams
who maintain such a stellar environment for a certain
period of time should be recognized for their hard
work. This can be something as simple as a team lunch
or a gift card. These rewards don’t have to be given all
the time but doing something on occasion can be a
good source of encouragement.
7) Think long-term
 In addition to immediate, day-to-day safety risks,

don’t forget to consider the long-term and stress-
related injuries that can cause missed days, lost
productivity and high turnover. By offering a few
wellness perks, such as gym memberships, healthy
food onsite and paid days off, you can encourage
a lifestyle of health and safety that transfers over
into their daily job.
8) Ensure that breaks are taken
A large amount of workplace-related injuries happen

because employees are tired and not paying attention to
their surroundings. The best way to counter that is to
keep employees energized, focused and well-rested. Make
sure that all employees take their regular breaks,
especially in labor-intensive work environments. Skipping
breaks may increase productivity, temporarily, but a single
accident due to exhaustion or inattention could mean a
much larger loss. If your company uses heavy equipment
or other dangerous machines, it could even mean a loss of
life.
5 Steps to
Developing an
Effective Workplace
Safety Program
Step 1: Demonstrate Company’s
Commitment to Workplace Safety
 Thebest way to start spreading awareness about the
importance of workplace safety is to make it a
company-wide value. WorkSafeMT suggests adding a
clause about the prioritization of safety in the
company’s mission statement. This step mostly
concerns management, at first, as they must reflect
these values in word and action. This doesn't just
mean verbally encouraging employees to follow proper
safety procedures, but also conducting a thorough
investigation of each and every workplace accident.
Step 2: Assess Workplace Risks and
Hazards
 Next, you need to get a proper assessment of everyday hazards
specific to your workplace. In addition to receiving a professional
assessment, management should also release a company-wide
survey to give employees the opportunity to express risk concerns
anonymously. It’s important to get employees’ opinions as well.
Since the employees work in these conditions every day, they can
often give insight about risks that aren’t obvious to the untrained
eye. During both professional and employee assessments, make
sure to create a distinction between workplace hazards (building
design/layout), activity hazards (machinery-related), and
environmental hazards (air quality/health risks).
Step 3: Create a Written Protocol for
Employees
 Once you’ve accurately assessed all workplace
hazards, you can start creating the guidelines for your
safety program. According to WorkSafeMT, “to create a
safety culture that exhibits accountability, employee
job descriptions must be clear and in writing, and must
state specifically the issues and requirements
regarding safety and health responsibilities. Having
these requirements in writing is critical because it
greatly reduces opportunities for ambivalence and
misinterpretation.
Step 4: Emphasize Employee Education
 After you’ve created your business’s workplace safety

guidelines, it’s time to get employees on board.
Employee training is always done when the employee
is first hired, but a good rule of thumb is to train
employees on any new changes in procedure -- after
an employee transfer, upon receiving new equipment,
and upon noticing new hazards. A sporadic refresher
can also help employees stay up-to-date on the latest
procedures.
Step 5: Implement and Evaluate
 This was touched on briefly earlier, but it’s critical to
make sure to investigate all workplace accidents, no
matter how minor they may be. More often than not,
these incidents are entirely preventable, and it’s
important to determine the cause in order to come to a
safer solution in the future. As unfortunate as these
accidents are, they provide a chance to make working
conditions safer for employees in the future. You should
also continue to make employee feedback a priority, even
if it is anonymous. Workplace duties are always evolving,
and new safety risks can present themselves faster than
most employers realize.

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Importance of safety

 The adage, “If you see something, say

 Make sure that your managers are always wearing

 In addition to immediate, day-to-day safety risks,

A large amount of workplace-related injuries happen

 After you’ve created your business’s workplace safety

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