Workplace safety is crucial for both companies and workers. No one wants to get hurt or to see coworkers get injured. To ensure employee safety, we cannot ignore best safety practices. Sometimes a little extra effort when it comes to safety can go a long way to avoiding injury. Here are a few reminders to help keep your employees safe and avoid workplace injuries.
- If you see something, say something! Whether you work in an office or on the production floor, if you see something that looks unsafe or like it’s a violation of company safety policy, please alert your manager on duty.
- Wear safety equipment. Safety equipment is there for a reason – to keep you safe! Check each shift that all your equipment is in proper working order before you put it on or use it. This can be anything from your hard hat and safety glasses to machine guards.
- Use correct posture when lifting. When picking up a box of office supplies or even a pallet, keep your back straight and use your legs! A back injury from lifting is a very common workplace injury that can easily be avoided.
- Take a break! A 10-minute break is refreshing and can help you stay more alert when working. It can also give you a rest from potential harsh weather conditions if you work outdoors.
- Avoid slips, trips, and falls. Be sure spills are cleaned up right away. Place caution signs around spills and messes until they have been cleaned up or cleared away. Also, frequently check the condition of your flooring for any protruding nails, cracked tiles or missing boards.
- Have an emergency action plan. Post your emergency action plan on your walls in plain sight and practice that plan until all employees are familiar with what to do in the event of a fire or other disaster. Be sure all emergency exits are clear at all times.
- Provide training often! The best way we can keep employees safe and avoid injury is by consistently providing training on equipment and revisiting all the best practices put in place to keep us safe.
Worker safety is a Kamps priority. We are proud of our positive safety climate and encourage our team members to discuss safety issues in their daily start-up meetings, establishing safety committees at all of our locations nationwide and directing our safety teams to do walk-through checks of our facilities. Still, so much of safety is dependent on the individual people who work for us. The above tips are great reminders for all of us as workers to be aware of our surroundings and protect our physical bodies from workplace injuries.
