Business owners are legally obligated to ensure that they are complying with the rules and regulations for health and safety in the workplace. We would even go so far to say you are morally obligated, too. After all, complacency could not only put your customers at risk but also your hardworking colleagues. With all this being said – how exactly does one manage the health and safety for their business? We’re going to be covering this topic in our article today, so read on to find out the answers.
Create a Risk Assessment
Risk assessments might be boring to conduct, but this doesn’t detract from the fact they are incredibly important. These audits are designed to identify what in your workplace could potentially be dangerous to your employees and customers or clients. To use an obvious example, a restaurant would need to have a thorough section on the dangers of having an open fire in the kitchen whilst cooking. Your risk assessments should also stipulate what actions need to be taken to reduce the likelihood of danger occurring. For instance, chefs should not be allowed to leave something cooking on the hob unattended.
Hire Professional Auditors
Not only do you need to draft a risk assessment yourself, but you also need to bring in professional auditors to ensure that all bases for health and safety are being covered. This overseer must be qualified and registered, of course. That’s not all. You will also need to hire certified engineers to check your appliances, fixtures, ectara. For example, you should have an EICR (electrical installation condition report) conducted. These are where qualified electricians will assess your workplace, checking the circuits and consumer units for faults which could eventually lead to electrical shocks or fires. There are specialist auditors who provide EICR for businesses, helping to prove your establishment is complying with health and safety regulations.
Train Your Employees
The next step is keeping your employees safe by educating them on the hazards of the workplace. By providing them with the information they need, they will know what might put them at risk and how to mitigate the danger. You should also supply them with personal protective equipment (if necessary) and advise them of any occupational hazards. Every so often, you should re-run training to keep the information fresh in everyone’s minds.
Implement Policies
It’s all well and good to have documentation that you are following the health and safety regulations – but are you actually implementing the policies you’ve drafted? This is the most important yet overlooked aspect of health and safety in the workplace. Therefore, you need to ensure you are always following through on your provisions. Pull your staff up when they are putting themselves or others at risk.
These are the main rudiments of managing health and safety in your small business. We recommend doing further research beyond this article, digging into each individual aspect of health and safety regulations. You should always do your very best to keep your colleagues and customers away from harm.