How to Improve Safety in Work Place

by Devra Gartenstein

Overview

Workplace accidents can be expensive, time consuming, and bad for employee morale. In order to improve safety in the workplace, start by critically evaluating your daily activities, looking for potentially unsafe practices and conditions. Make sure your workers understand that safety is a priority, and let them know you welcome their observations and suggestions. Keep records of safety incidents and use them as opportunities to improve your practices.

Step 1

Keep a workplace safety log, detailing when incidents occur. For each incident, note precisely what happened, and what steps you and your staff can take to avoid similar accidents in the future. If you observe recurring accidents with the same causes, try to think outside the box and look for underlying, less immediate causes that you have not addressed in the past.
Step 2

Make time in your schedule for preventative safety measures. Even if you feel too rushed to dedicate time to keeping your workplace safe, remember that attention to safety saves time in the long run by freeing you from dealing with injuries and the missed work time that they cause. Schedule a dedicated employee for each shift responsible for keeping walkways clear, cleaning spills, and checking in with the rest of your staff about fatigue and unsafe conditions
Step 3

Institute an ergonomics program to educate your workers about the safest ways to use their bodies at work, such as proper lifting techniques. Schedule training sessions and distribute written materials.
Step 4

Communicate with your employees about the importance of improving safety in the workplace. Solicit their feedback and suggestions, and implement changes that show that you are listening to them. Hold regular meetings to discuss safety issues, and encourage their input between meetings as well.

Overview