In any business organization, health and safety procedures are fundamental to the well-being of both the employer and the employees. In today’s working environment there are many hazards and it’s the responsibility of the employer to protect the employees.
It’s a legal obligation for any business with more than 5 employees to have health and safety procedures. This helps in creating a healthier culture within the work environment and it acts as an assurance to employees that you care for them. There are various advantages of following health and safety procedures in the work environment.
Better recording so less risk of getting fined by health and safety authorities
Training your employees is vital and helpful, as this will educate them on good workplace procedures, practices, and on how to avoid injuries and illness. In the event that your workplace isn’t safe for your workers, you may be fined or have your business temporarily or completely shut down.
When your employees are trained on the importance of their safety and health there will be fewer injuries and illnesses which reduces the chances of being fined by healthy and safety standards on grounds of employees wellbeing and work environment.
Improved work efficiently through a more detailed examination of work practices
If your business involves handling dangerous gases or chemicals, there’s always the danger of improper handling, storage maintenance; these could lead to risky exposure of you or your workers. In these cases, you should adhere to a specific set of guideline on how to handle hazardous materials; emergency and evacuation plans must be in place. By keeping up safety and health procedures will help reduce illnesses and accidents this hence reduction of employee absenteeism which in turn improves work efficiency.
Reduction in workers medical expense
A good health and safety procedure in your business minimizes expenses incurred in medical insurance premiums, just as the expenses of accidents that your insurance doesn’t cover. In these situations, uninsured costs might exceed insured costs, and your business income might be sliced to settle the bills.
David Rowland, Head of Marketing at Effective Software, knows the importance of safety in business. He claims that “the role of safety in business is vitally important. It is imperative that we are proactive in developing a positive safety culture in our businesses. What we need is a genuine cultural shift, and this can have a profound impact on not just our workers, but also other KPIs such as consumer confidence and reputation.”
Reduced staff turnover
Good health and safety procedures enable you to protect your employees from injuries. This means you will be able to keep your skilled employees. You will spare the time and expenses of selecting and training another member of staff because of employees quitting as they feel you don’t care for them.
Reputation
Great health and safety procedures will assist in building a positive image with your customers and staff, as a result, this will lead to increased sales and generate more leads productivity and profits, good health and safety procedures imply that your staff can do their work more effectively and securely. This will improve their morale, increase productivity, and decrease costs.
Protecting your staff
Adhering to health and safety procedures is necessary to protect employers and their workers from any harm, illnesses or getting into some other type of injuries in the work environment.
Reducing absenteeism
Following health and safety procedures and maintaining a secure workplace will lessen the chances of work environment related sicknesses and injuries, hence reducing staff absences.
