One of the most important responsibilities for employers is making sure their employees have a safe environment for them to work in. Since the beginning of time, it has been common knowledge that people can get hurt if they don’t have a proper and safe environment to work in.

The best safety practices are the ones that don’t blind you to other dangers. Here are some tips you can give your employees to help keep them safe and secure at work.

  1. Implement Workplace Safety Protocols

As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to provide a safe work environment for your employees. Workplace safety is a broad term that covers everything from HSE regulations to glove safety. It’s important to have in place protocols, procedures and training on how to respond to any emergency or employee injury.

Your business managers should be well versed in this information, so they can address any issues immediately.

  1. Actively Encourage Sick Employees to Stay Home

Health concerns like colds, flu and other diseases can easily be passed from one person to another. If a sick employee comes into work, causing you the potential for others to get sick, it can cost your business money in lost productivity and overtime pay.

The best way to reduce the number of employees on sick leave is to actively encourage all employees to stay in bed when they’re ill.

  1. Have Conversations with Employees About their Concerns

Listening to your employees’ concerns will help improve workplace safety and make them more aware of how they can protect themselves. Your employees are the best line of defence for your business. Have regular employee communications about security and maintain a good working environment.

  1. Create an Emergency Action Plan

The easiest way to protect against human error? Plan ahead. Create an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for emergencies like fire, storms or illnesses with the help of an Emergency Action Plan tool. The EAP includes a checklist of critical actions, plus a customizable template tailored to your department.

  1. Foster a Culture of Safety & Security

Working with your employees to foster a safety culture is vital to the health of your business. Learn how to foster a culture of safety and security within your workplace. With the right training, you can increase awareness and reduce reliance on written policies.

  1. Have Employer’s liability insurance

Employer’s liability insurance is a legal requirement in the UK, but it also just makes good business sense. You must show care and compassion for the employees that work for you. You must also ensure that your business is safe from legal or financial repercussions for an employee injury or argument. Insurance is one of the biggest ways to do this.

  1. Perform Regular Inspections of machinery, equipment and tools

Workplace accidents are a fact of life. However, when you take proper safety precautions and perform regular inspections on your facilities, you can curb injuries and ensure worker safety.

As a busy employee, the last thing you need is more time-consuming tasks on your plate. That’s why it is important to conduct regular inspections of machinery, equipment and tools of all sizes in your work area to ensure they are operating safely and effectively.

8. Take a Risk Management Approach

If you are still finding yourself concerned about workplace risks, and how to protect your employees, follow a risk management approach. Work with your team to identify potential hazards. Ask them how they would contribute or react during an incident.

It’s a serious job to keep your workforce safe and healthy, and for many small businesses, it’s a job they don’t fully understand—until an accident happens. That’s why we created this guide to help you take the necessary steps to maintain a safe work environment.