Help prevent work-related accidents and injuries

Preventing work-related accidents and injuries is something we all want to strive for. Here are ten ways you can help create a safety-conscious environment for your organization to help protect your employees:

1. Make safety your organization’s #1 objective — from the top down. Establish safe-work procedures and put them in writing. Make sure employees both understand and follow them. It’s important for management to not just talk safety, but to lead by doing.
2. Provide training to cover all areas of your operations. Require all employees to attend the training they need to work safely. Document attendance.
3. Hire only qualified workers. Make sure you place the right candidate in the right position.
4. Investigate all accidents (near-misses, too) to evaluate their causes. Learn from these events and make the necessary changes to work procedures, processes or equipment to help prevent recurrences.
5. Provide the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) for all tasks. Allow employees some choice in the type of PPE they use, whenever possible. Verify regularly that PPE is in good working order and fits each employee properly.
6. Conduct needed maintenance on all equipment and machinery on a regular basis. This helps ensure everything remains in good working condition. Repair or replace items as needed. Document all maintenance activity.
7. Inspect all vehicles and mobile equipment regularly. This helps to maintain safe operating condition. Train workers to perform daily vehicle checks and make sure they receive proper driver training.
8. Train employees on the proper use of tools, equipment and machines. Workers should be able to recognize the hazards associated with the tools, equipment or machines they use, and the necessary safety precautions. Be sure to document the training.
9. Maintain good housekeeping of your facilities, grounds and equipment. Accidents and injuries can be avoided and productivity improved where good housekeeping is a daily occurrence. A tidy facility often means a safe facility.
10. Conduct regular safety inspections. Make sure all machinery and equipment safeguards are in place and in good working condition.