Any business that involves working in hazardous environments has to follow safety regulations and prevention measures.
To do this correctly, there must be proper training provided to the employees that makes sure they understand and follow all the necessary measures and procedures.
Providing this you will have more motivated employees, who will have better performances and a lower percentage of accidents at work.
Know the training regulations
Training must be personalized, which means that you have to know your employees and adapt the training for them.
If you give them hundreds of pages to read, then chances are they might not understand something very well or that the training will be boring and futile. So, other than knowing all the OSHA regulations, which site can be very helpful, you must make your training practical, useful, and meaningful.
The management should have training as well. They might not work at hazardous places but they usually do the monitoring of the employees and it is important they perceive the danger and know how to react if need be. Let’s check some of the most common hazardous situations at the workplace.
Dealing with hazardous materials
Dealing with hazardous materials daily is a part of many jobs. The problem with these materials is they remain there after you deal with them. There must be a protocol established for their storage and disposal to avoid their harmful effect on people.
Your employees must learn about these materials, know their hazardous nature and learn how to properly dispose of them. This is especially important for chemical substances.
Any transportation of these materials must be done only by industrial trucks specially designed for that purpose.
Injuries at workplace
Slippery floors can be dangerous at any workplace, so this doesn’t even require any hazardous job to be involved. This shouldn’t be taken for granted and should be mitigated or prevented.
People usually don’t see the potential danger in situations that are so common. The workplace must be free of any loose boards or uneven floors, cables that lie around, holes, loose rugs, leaks, poor lighting, etc.
Always use cautionary floor stands, barricade tape, warning signs, and chains to prevent people from passing through places where they can get injured.
Fire hazards
Every employee safety training must include work safety training procedures for fire. Employees must know how to handle fire extinguishers and all the protocols in case of fire.
It is especially important to know what to do when the fire has already started. It is a dangerous situation and knowing how to proceed is crucial for saving lives.
The building features are not the same in every place, so it is important to know the building you work at, to know how to deal with any fire hazard.
Other than extinguishers, they have to know about the sprinkler systems, standpipe systems, fire department connections, fire alarm, and communications systems. The evacuation and the emergency plan have to be thoroughly explained.
Violence prevention at the workplace
According to the OSHA manual for violence prevention, the measures that should be taken are the following ones:
- Be truly interested in your employees’ welfare and emotional state
- Finding some possible causes for the violence
- Prevention of the violence once knowing its causes
- Controlling and handling the already existing violence
- Explaining to your employees how to recognize bullying, mobbing, or any other kind of violence
- Keeping records about those cases
Covid19 prevention measures
The pandemic has added one more thing to think about when it comes to safety measures. For those who don’t work remotely, which is still a large number of people, some measures have to be taken to prevent the contagion.
Professional teams that can provide your employees with proper training can explain Covid19 safety measures as well. Maintaining the distance, washing hands, and using masks and gloves are basic measures in this case.
These tips can make your training strategies more effective, clear, and concise. This is not only an ethical obligation of any employer but a legal one as well.
These tips belong to some basic safety training measures, but it is good to find out about more of them and have detailed training focused on the particular job. Every job has its hazards, so focusing especially on them can make it more effective.