5 Ways to Make Your Employees Feel Safer at Work

As an employer, you want your office to be a place where your team can feel comfortable, happy, and productive. The last thing you want is for them to feel as though they are in danger. But there are so many things that can go wrong in any workplace, putting yourself and your team at risk. On any given day in the office, your employees could contract coronavirus, have a painful fall, be targeted by malicious cyberattacks, or be a victim of sexual harassment.

It is your responsibility to minimize the risk to your team and make them safe and secure at all times. To help you achieve this end, here are five ways to help your employees feel safer at work. 

Talk to your team

As a manager, you don’t always have a clear view of the dynamics and conversations amongst your team. Therefore, you might not know if they are having serious problems or worries unless you specifically ask them. Make a conscious effort to talk to each member of your team, both individually and as a group, to gauge whether they have any safety concerns or advice for what you could do better. This will show them that you are approachable and compassionate, and they’ll be more likely to come to you for future guidance. 

CovMake it Covid-safe

The most pressing safety concern for any business at the moment is coronavirus, and your staff are likely feeling nervous about coming into the office. Help to alleviate their concerns by doing everything you can to create a Covid-safe workplace. Provide plenty of disposable face masks and sanitizer, as well as disinfecting wipes and sprays to clean shared workspaces. Enforce social distancing guidelines and try to minimize the number of staff who need to come into work each day.

Stay on top of health and safety

The most common accidents at work involve falls, and although you might chalk this up to clumsiness, you don’t want a lawsuit on your hands because of a loose bathroom tile. Make sure your office is completely up to scratch at all times and any potential dangers are fixed right away. 

Prioritize mental health

One of the biggest dangers for any office worker is stress. Working eight hours a day in a high-pressure environment, constantly striving to hit targets and meet deadlines can take a toll, and you’d be surprised how many of your staff are battling with their mental health. Taking to your team about their workloads and helping them to manage them more efficiently will make a difference. Encouraging regular breaks and work social events will help to make their work environment more enjoyable, and adding mental health days into their contract will give them respite when stress takes over. 

Hire a safety expert

A workplace safety expert, such as Carlos Ramirez Safety, will be able to go over every inch of your office and tell you how you can make it safer. This will include guidance for general health and safety, fire and flooding risk, as well as protocols for minimizing the spread of coronavirus.

Line of work

You should also pick the best kind of healthcare for your line of work, as this is probably the most impactful factor on your health itself. For example, shipyard workers may not have been aware of the link between their fall in health to shipyard lung disease. When working on frigates, corvettes, aircraft carriers and just about every battleship in the US Navy, they might have been handling asbestos products without even knowing it. With specific healthcare, you can protect your employees and avoid legal issues in the future.