Accidents in the workplace result in higher workers’ compensation and insurance costs, lost workdays, and lower employee morale. Thus, it makes good sense for employers to provide safety education for their employees to reduce the likelihood of injuries.
All employers should develop a plan for medical emergencies. They need to anticipate what could happen, have a plan for what to do if something does occur, and train their employees so they will respond appropriately during an emergency.
Lead by Example — As the employer, considering your stance on job safety and health is imperative. If you are strong in your conviction for employee safety and continually demonstrate its importance, your employees are more likely to take it seriously. Thus, your attitude alone may prevent injuries.
You should take the following actions:
• Visibly post the OSHA poster, Job Safety and Health Protection.
• Write a Code of Safe Practices for employees.
• Discuss safety at staff meetings and write about it in employee newsletters.
• Create a policy on employee safety. Place it near the OSHA workplace poster.
• Personally review all inspection and accident reports. Ensure proper follow-up when it is needed.
• Receive advice from your insurance agent. Your agent should be skilled at finding the cause of accidents and preventing future ones.
Uncovering and Eliminating the Possible Causes of Accidents — Identifying workplace hazards and implementing procedures to control them is a must. This means conducting periodic safety and health inspections. Once you have identified risks, you may need to entirely eliminate hazards by changing equipment. If this is not feasible, consider limiting access and training personnel on safety procedures.
The objective of your safety program is to put an end to all injuries, or at least keep them to an absolute minimum. Doing so will not be successful, however, unless you train your employees to carry out your plans.
Gregg L. Goodman, LUTCF is the CEO of the Gregg L. Goodman Insurance Agency, Inc. He is an agent for Farmers Insurance and provides life, health, homeowners and auto insurance, as well as commercial insurance programs. He can be reached at 661-254-6739.