Safety hazards in the office and how to remove them

Guest Post

Are you working hard in your office job, or are you an office owner or manager? Have you ever thought about implementing an office safety plan for your employees to prevent accidents and injuries?

There can be as many accidents in the office as there may be anywhere else. We can help you make the changes you need, in order to create a place of safety for you, your co-workers, your family, and even your pets. Here are some common problem areas;

● Cords and wires

● Filing cabinets

● Unused furniture, files etc.

● Office kitchen hazards

● Employees unaware of safety procedures

Have you considered the dangers of cords and wires from your computer and other appliances? There are printers, fax machines, copiers, and so many other types of cords that can either get entangled or in the way and cause trips and falls. Falls can cause cords to start to spark. You can fix this by using flame protector wire sleeves to cover the cords and bundling and tying them so they are out of the way. It is also law in Australia to have all your cords tested and tagged every twelve months (at least).

Usually in an office you will find plenty of filing cabinets. These cabinets are usually filled to the brim with lots of information. It is sometimes a requirement to keep customer information and financials on file, and even though technology is becoming more advanced, there are some things that need to be kept for long periods of time. Top heavy filing cabinets can easily fall over if not bolted down securely. It’s important to secure them with proper wall mounts or fasteners if possible. While this may not seem like a pressing issue right now, try explaining that to the person who has a 100kg+ metal cabinet fall on them.

If you cannot attach your file cabinets securely to the walls to keep them from falling over, your next best bet is to store them in boxes. If there are too many boxes and you cannot seem to figure out where to store the boxes now, then you should consider a self storage solution. Any unused furniture, files, spare computers etc. that might be in the way can also go in storage as well. If you are working from home, this might be more of a problem for you because you’ve got your work stuff and your office stuff to fit in and the house probably wasn’t built with your home office in mind.

Office kitchenettes are often a hotbed of hazards, more so than your kitchen at home. The office kitchen belongs to everyone when they want to use it – so it can get quite busy, but no one when there is mess to be cleaned up – so it can get quite messy. You should have clear procedures in place and clearly displayed, such as to clean up spills as they happen and remove food from the fridge that you no longer want. Hot things such as urns and stoves should also be clearly labelled.

It’s no use having solid safety and emergency procedures if your staff don’t know them or can’t follow them when needed. Make sure everyone in your office knows what to do when an injury, incident or emergency occurs. To be sure, you should do regular refreshers and drills and make sure you have a system in place to train new employees as they come in.

Sometimes you need to make a sacrifice in the name of safety and security. Other times, it is just a great idea to have a neat, clean, working area. It helps you and everyone else focus better, and everyone can get a lot more work done.

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Robyn writes for Access Storage, a family owned, Adelaide Storage and removals business. If you need to make some extra space in your home or office, they have a storage solution to suit you.