With the pandemic, it is clear now more than ever how vital safety standards are. Every business needs to be held accountable and take every precaution to uphold their safety standards. Having these safety procedures and measures ensures that your employees are protected every time they are at the workplace. The following are five safety standards that your business needs to adhere to in order to operate.
Notices and Signs
Regardless of the number of employees you have, you’ll need to put up some important signs and notices. The most important notice to put up in your business is the Health and Safety Law poster.
This poster contains a description of what you and your employees should do in the workplace in matters regarding safety. According to the law, it is mandatory to display this poster somewhere all your employees can easily see it.
Alternatively, you can also provide your employees a Health and Safety Law leaflet containing the same information to carry around.
Other signs that you should put at your workplace include the no-smoking sign, hot water, corrosive materials, slippery floors, fire exit, and route signs, among others.
Accident Reporting
Another safety standard you should be aware of as an employer is that you’re required to record all the accidents that take place in your workplace. This reporting is very important because it helps your business when it’s time to investigate potential risks and prevent accidents from reoccurring.
This reporting should contain basic information such as the date, time, and place of the accident, details of those involved in the accident and their job titles, a brief description of the nature of the accident, the treatment provided to those involved in the accident, name of the first aider, and a signature.
It’s important to note that you’re required to report all the accidents that might have led to an employee being away from work, death, fracture of a bone, or even injury to members of the public.
Employer’s Liability Insurance
Unless you have no employees or have close relatives working for you, you’re required by the law to have employer’s liability insurance. This type of insurance helps you when you need to compensate an employee if they’re injured or ill due to the work they do for you.
However, it’s important to know that you can prevent accidents at your workplace if you take the necessary measures. But, if a court of law finds you liable for an accident that happened at your workplace, the employer’s liability insurance will help you compensate the employees involved.
According to Emery Reddy, a litigation firm with L&I attorneys in Seattle, they help workers with L&I and worker’s compensation, injury law, and employment law. Therefore, your business should be well versed in these concepts too.
First Aid
As an employer, it’s very important to provide your employees with a well-stocked and identifiable first-aid kit at the workplace. Also, you are responsible for choosing a person who will be accountable for restocking the kit and taking charge when there is an accident.
It’s not a legal requirement to have a qualified first-aider at the workplace, but it’s recommended to have one. It might interest you to know that the number of first-aiders needed will depend on the nature of your business and the number of employees.
It’s also important that you inform your staff about all these arrangements through a notice or even a leaflet.
Health and Safety Training
Finally, you’re required by the law to provide adequate and clear health and safety instruction, and training to all your employees. This is meant to ensure that your employees carry out their work safely and minimize the occurrence of injuries.
It’s even better to have this type of training during the hiring process so that your employees can begin their work equipped with all the safety training they’ll need to work in your business.
This training should involve details like identifying any known hazards and risks at the workplace and how they can be minimized. You should also include details of all the emergency procedures, like what to do during a fire or flood emergency at the workplace.
Accidents can occur in almost every workplace, regardless of how low-risk the environment is. For this reason, it’s very important to have the above safety standards in place to protect your employees.
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