Health and safety is a vital part of operating a successful industrial business for two reasons. The first is the well-being of your staff, the second is securing the costs of injuries. It was estimated that in 2017-2018, the costs of injuries and ill health from current working conditions were as high as £15 billion.
Here are five recommended steps, as recommended by the UK governmental expert body Health and Safety Executive:
#1 Identify the hazards manager
This is a crucial task that can carry heavy responsibilities, therefore not something that should be overlooked. Once you have appointed your hazards manager, the person in charge will hold the responsibility to regularly check the warehouse or any other premise of use. It is advised for the manager to talk through any flagged up issues with the union safety representative. Further, the hazards manager is also encouraged to speak to all supervisors and look through the accident book together to understand past hazard problems in the business.
#2 Identify who is at risk of harm and how
Not all workers are at the same hazard risk. Some may be more prone to injuries caused by a fall, others may be handling harmful chemicals. For that reason, it’s important to make such a distinction for different types of roles.
#3 Review every hazard identified
Assess current safety plans and see how improvements can be brought on. Your hazard manager would have to use the past hazard problems to get a realistic picture of the gaps in your industrial business.
“It was estimated that in 2017-2018, the costs of injuries and ill health from current working conditions were as high as £15 billion.”
#4 Put the new safety plan into practice
Have the appointed hazard manager delegate the next steps for all relevant supervisors and workers to make sure that the message and the precautions reach your company’s goal for minimising hazards, as well as improving the wellbeing of all staff members in the business.
#5 Regular practice and culture
Once you have completed the steps above, make sure that this becomes a regular practice in the company. Assign dates and persons to repeat the procedure.
