Thinking about just what constitutes “safe” though can be a daunting prospect. You clearly can’t wrap the whole workplace in cotton just to make sure that your employees can’t cause themselves any harm – if taken literally, this would be dangerous too. Therefore you have to go by the letter of the law, as well as practice common sense policies.
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| Health And Safety |
For example, you’re employees should all be trained to handle the equipment they’re assigned. While obvious, this one sensible suggestion has made many an employer face the wrath of the Heath and Safety Executive before.
As part of your responsibility, you could even put this kind of equipment in a secure area which needs access codes to get into for example.
There’s more that can be done too. If you’re operating in an enclosed environment and handling dangerous materials, you as the employer have the responsibility to make sure that no one can become injured because you neglected to minimize the risks associated.
If your company was a body shop for example, then you’re expected to have operational industrial fans to extract carbon fibres. Doing so is advantageous, and safe, because even though off-cut carbon fibres can be thinner than a human hair, they are extremely strong and stiff. A single fibre could easily pierce skin if pressed, so this should give you some idea of the kind of damage this could cause if they were to be inhaled accidentally.
Similar kind of situations could apply should you not provide the right protective clothing for workers, or neglect to label products properly.
Even though the industrial workplace can be a complete legislative minefield, making sure that you are educating staff and displaying clear signs of risk management, should help to minimize the likelihood of accidents in general.
