Top Tips for Good Safety Practice in a Commercial Setting

August 26 2022 - In any commercial setting, it is important to take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of the workforce. Employers have a legal obligation to protect their workers from harm in their working days and may be held liable if accidents occur in the workplace that could have been easily prevented. If an employee believes that they have suffered an injury at work that was not down to their own negligence, they may be in a position to take legal action against the employer.

How Often Do Accidents Occur?

It is a startling fact that three million common injuries happen in the workplace each year in America. Many of these are from slips, trips, and falls sustained at work and can result in decreases in productivity and time lost during recovery. Plus, employees will experience pain, time off of work (sometimes without sick pay), and inconvenience.

What Can You Do?

In 2022 it is imperative that employers in a commercial setting adopt a range of measures to allow the workforce to operate in a safe environment. This article explains three key ways in which this can be done.

Safe ventilation systems

Any commercial building that contains air conditioning systems will have a series of ductworks that carry the air around the premises. Employers should be aware of the need for safe air quality within commercial buildings. There is a need to undertake regular maintenance of the ductwork systems along with annual cleaning schedules to ensure that air is free from particulates that could cause respiratory problems over extended periods of time. Most responsible employers will take steps to utilize the services of commercial ductwork cleaning firms that will take care of the inspection, maintenance, and sanitization of these vital ventilation systems.

Effective disinfection routines

All commercial properties should have regular cleaning and sanitizing schedules to protect staff from germs and viruses that can thrive in unclean environments. The Covid-19 pandemic brought the concept of effective hand hygiene to the fore in all organizations, and as such, employers were advised to offer hand sanitizing facilities for all staff in an attempt to prevent the transmission of the virus. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are recognized to kill the vast majority of germs and bacteria on hands and can be highly effective in keeping employees free from illness. In addition, commercial businesses should clean flooring and equipment on a daily basis to ensure a safe and healthy working environment.

A robust health and safety reporting system

In many medium and large commercial organizations, there will be robust systems in place to allow the reporting of accidents, injuries, and near misses. This data is extremely important and may provide essential evidence in the event of serious accidents at work. In addition, having comprehensive reporting systems allows an organization to effectively monitor health and safety incidents in the workplace. This data can be used to indicate trends and may signpost the need for specific health and safety initiatives such as risk assessments and additional training for staff to help minimize the likelihood of adverse incidents occurring. By ensuring that effective health and safety reporting systems are in place, the employer is demonstrating the importance it places on the safety of its workforce.

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