Common Health and Safety Issues at Work

There are many common health and safety issues in workplaces that you need to know about both if you own a business and if you work for an employer. Therefore, here are some of the most common health and safety issues that you may come across and what business owners can do to prevent them from occurring.

1.   Construction Accidents

Thousands of workplace accidents occur each year, and there are many types of possible construction accidents and injuries, such as falling from a height, concussions from falling objects and deafness due to loud noise, and these have been occurring for as long as construction has been taking place. However, if you are an employer, there are many ways that you can minimize the risk of these. For instance, you should supply all of your employees with the proper protective gear and make sure that strict rules are followed at all times. You should also consider installing an LED work light on all of your construction vehicles. This can allow your employees to work more safely in dark environments and on uneven surfaces.

2.   Machinery Faults

Machinery faults can happen often when your employees are working with large equipment in a factory environment, and these can cause your employees to sustain injuries such as broken bones, severed limbs, and deep cuts. To stop your employees from becoming injured, you should make sure that all of your machinery is checked for faults every time that it is used, that maintenance is carried out regularly before problems occur, and that you stop machinery from being used if it presents a health and safety risk.

3.   Slip and Falls

Slip and falls are also incredibly common and can lead to businesses finding themselves being sued by their employees for an extensive amount of compensation. To prevent slip and falls from occurring, you should put warning signs up around areas where cleaning has just taken place. You should also take up any loose wiring that could cause your employees to trip and injure themselves and provide rails near stairs and other high-risk areas of your workplace.

4.   Fire

There have been many workplace accidents over time, but fire can cause some of the worst. Fire in the workplace can both destroy a business’s assets and put its employees in danger of injury or even death. You should try to keep fire from harming your employees by making sure that you have invested in a fire alarm system for all of your buildings. You should install fire extinguishers and sprinklers, and make sure that you have a clear fire safety policy that states what to do if a fire breaks out during working hours and which gives everyone a designated role.

5.   Heavy Lifting

Heavy lifting can cause back injuries, which could mean your employees need to have weeks or even months off work. You can minimize the risk of back injuries in your workplace by making good lifting practices part of your initial training program, and by ensuring that you have ample employees to help lift heavy items. You should also invest in the right type of lifting trolleys and hand pallets which can help your employees to move objects more easily.