Putting a Workplace Safety and Risk Management Policy in Place
Guest Post
Whatever business you are in, there are always safety risks in the workplace. Of course, management approach varies, but the sooner it accepts the reality of potential danger, the better it will be for everyone. This includes the owners, management and the staff.
For starters, every industry will have some general safety challenges, but each workplace has its specific safety needs. The secret is to spread the responsibility for safety and risk management to every member of the organization. This involves incorporating safety into the culture of the organization. To achieve this, the top management must take an interest in the safety of all members of the organization.
If you are in top management, you need to get actively involved in the management of risk with the aim of minimizing accidents. Failure to put proper safety measures in place may lead to bad accidents which can bring your business to its knees through loss of life, property or both. This does not mean that having risk management measures in place keeps you from danger. What it does is to reduce the risk and to empower the organization to deal with any accidents that may occur.
Compiling the Workplace Safety Policy
The federal government has workplace safety guidelines which can help management put effective safety measures into place. These are too general, however, and there is the need for individual management to domesticate the guidelines and come up with an appropriate company safety policy.
When designing an effective safety policy, you need to get involved as early as possible in its preparation stage. Inform the staff of your intentions and encourage them to give input. Share the government safety guidelines and let the staff know that the policy will help keep everyone safe while working and that they will be involved in its implementation. This will help them have ownership of the safety policy.
Once you get all the input, put together a team to compile a practical safety policy. It is important that the management and the safety policy team maintain an open-minded approach and consider anything that can go wrong in the workplace. This will help in the design of ways to minimize the possibility of accidents.
Ways to Reduce and Manage Risk
In order to prevent accidents before they happen, management should institute the following practices:
* Removal of unnecessary potential causes of hazards from the workplace.
* Good work ethics by every member of the organization.
* Vigilance by all members for potential causes of danger.
* Management’s commitment to deal with reported causes of danger without delay.
*Change of design in the workplace to improve safety.
* Incorporate universal safety measures in the safety policy.
* Provide protective gear such as clothing and personal protective equipment.
* Staff training on safety.
* Periodic drills to ensure readiness of members to deal with emergencies.
* Require all staff to report any work related injuries immediately.
While it is not possible to give a conclusive list here, this gives an indication of what is needed for enhanced safety and management of risk in the workplace.
It is worth noting that your workplace safety procedures should be in line with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations.
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