Health and safety resolutions for 2016

The vast majority of people make New Year’s resolutions in the hope of having a fresh start as the old year fades away. Although conventionally made individually, what’s to stop a company making one? Furthermore, why not vow to make work a safer, more secure environment? There are many small, simple things that can be done to make sure you keep on top of health and safety at work.

A health and safety resolution could be one of many things, for example:

•    Keep up- Make sure you’re up to date with legislation and regulations, and that if changes have occurred you’re aware of them and how they impact your business.

•    Review competency- make sure all employees are trained appropriately in order  to avoid unnecessary accidents.

•    Replace- If a piece of equipment is broken or wearing down, buy a new one, don’t deal with it at the last minute when it becomes a necessity. Forward planning is a good way to reduce risk.

•    Tidy up- a shocking amount of workplace injuries are the result of poor housekeeping, so having a clean start to 2015 may be a blessing in disguise.

•    Check- Making sure things are up to date can be a gradual process in order to ensure an efficient work zone. Starting with something such as making sure the emergency lighting is functioning properly, that fire extinguishers are in date and so on are all small things that lead to a more efficient company.

•    Reduce fire hazards- check plug sockets to make sure they’re working safely, not overloaded and that the casing is intact. If you work with flammable materials, double check they’re stored safely and that they won’t explode etc.

•    Reduce unnecessary risks- slips, trips and falls are a common cause of injury in the workplace. This can be incorporated into tidying, making sure any cables are secure, boxes are stored safely and so on.

•    Take safety seriously- It’s not only employers who sometimes take shortcuts, but employees sometimes choose time-cutting over safety. Make sure that employees know the dangers of taking silly risks, or introduce a no tolerance policy to reckless behaviour at work.

These suggestions are only a few ways in which a company can stay on top of what health and safety asks of them, but if repeated regularly could become a healthy business habit for many years to come.