Business

Workplace Safety Tips – My Top Ten List

Maintaining a safe workplace is almost, but not entirely, totally different from following OSHA standards. If your goal is to comply with OSHA regulations at the lowest initial cost, then I suggest you look elsewhere. However, if you’re really interested in keeping your employees safe and productive in your workplace, here are some workplace safety tips for you. They might even help you comply with some OSHA regulations down the road.

My top ten workplace safety tips:

  1. Maintain a clean work area. Not only will you remove many hazards from a work area by keeping it clean, but you will also provide a more productive work environment for your employees.
  2. Use protectors and engineered solutions whenever possible instead of relying on PPE – personal protective equipment. PPE is difficult to monitor and uncomfortable to wear. Find a way to prevent exposure in the first place. Your workers will be much more productive if they are comfortable
  3. Assume that your employees want to work safely and give them that opportunity. Many safety incentive programs seemed to be based on the idea that employees want to get hurt and have to be bribed not to stick their hands in the machine. If you have that idea, then these tips are not for you.
  4. Give clear work instructions. Make sure your employees know the right way to do what you expect of them. Don’t give them a list of things they shouldn’t do. Include safety instructions in every procedure you write.
  5. Don’t dwell on worst-case scenarios, but instead focus on what is most likely to happen. Start by focusing your energy on preventing the most common incidents. That means you’ll have to keep an accurate record of OSHA incidents even if it looks bad to some manager you report to.
  6. Love your employees. Do not confuse this with something that could lead to a sexual harassment claim. I mean, care about your employees and let them know that you do. If a machine becomes unsafe, shut it down before someone gets hurt.
  7. Take time to get to know the work your employees do. Even if you’ve ever done that job, it’s likely that different people will do it differently. Look at what people are actually doing and compare it to what is written in the procedures. If the procedures are different from actual practice, find out why.
  8. Keep machinery in good working order. Employees are often put in dangerous situations by having to compensate for a defect or wear on the machine. In the case of wear, it may have happened so slowly that they think it’s normal. A strong preventative maintenance program contributes to a strong safety program.
  9. Avoid unnecessary dangers. Look for new materials or equipment that can eliminate the hazards your workers are exposed to.
  10. Maintain a clean work area. See workplace safety tip number one above. Potential exposures to hazardous materials and conditions can be dramatically reduced simply by keeping the work area clean. And the benefit in employee productivity and morale is worth it, even without the safety incentive.

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