Operating a business and business success isn’t all about making money. There is a lot more to it. While the bottom line might be the end goal, there are many things that can affect how that bottom line is going to look. Your business also needs to remain compliant with rules and regulations that govern your particular industry or doing business in Australia in general.
To protect the reputation of your business and to ensure the safety of everyone who works in your company, visitors and customers, it’s imperative that your workplace is as safe as it possibly can be. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some tips to make your business a safer place for everyone concerned.
#1 – Understand Workplace Health and Safety Guidelines
Guidelines for workplace health and safety are not merely in place to harass employers and hold power over them. They have been designed and implemented to ensure a safe work environment for all.
In order to abide by the law and to establish a safer work environment following those guidelines, you must first know what they are and understand what’s required. This is something everyone who is involved in the business needs to have knowledge of, as it’s up to every individual to ensure your business is compliant and remains compliant.
Make it a point of learning all you can about workplace health and safety compliance and then hold team meetings to convey that information to all members of staff. You might even want to consider purchasing health and safety software to help with compliance and to monitor your business. Software can give you real-time analysis of what’s going on in your operation and even alert you to potential problem areas, so you can rectify them before an issue has a chance to result.
#2 – Formulate a Risk Management Plan
All Australian businesses face various risks, but you can reduce the chances of anything bad happening by creating a risk management plan. The idea of effective risk management is to recognise potential risks and avoid them, rather than merely finding solutions once a problem has reared its ugly head.
Stage one of your risk management plan is to make a list of all possible risks you can think of, whether they’re likely to happen at some point or not. It’s all about being aware of the potential of what can go wrong so you can put in place strategies and solutions to prevent those risks from ever eventuating.
Some diligence now can save you from a lot of headaches and financial problems down the track.
Once you have a list of possible risks, it’s important to organise them by priority. Which risk has the most catastrophic outcome and which risks are more likely to eventuate than others? Once your list is prioritised, you’ll know immediately what you must focus your attention on first.
#3 – Maintain Regular Staff Training
The training your staff members require will depend on the nature of your business. If, for example, your operation involves various types of machinery for production, it’s vital that employees are properly trained on equipment and that high standards are maintained for safe operation. Even if employees have already been trained, it can be human nature to get lax, so regular refresher training is a good idea.
You may also want to consider bringing in professionals to teach everyone about fire safety, so if a fire ever breaks out, everyone knows what to do, without panicking, and where to meet up should an evacuation be necessary.
#4 – Signage Is Important
Having signage placed strategically about the workplace acts as a reminder to everyone of what and what not to do. As humans, sometimes we simply forget or are not thinking, but signage will keep health and safety at the forefront of everyone’s mind at all times. If you have customers visiting your premises, appropriate signage can help keep them safe as well.
The Takeaway
A safe workplace results in a prosperous workplace. You’ll also have happier workers who are more productive and you can be sure that you’ll remain on the right side of the law at all times.
Having read this I thought it was rather enlightening. I appreciate you spending some time and energy to put this content together. I once again find myself spending way too much time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worthwhile!