When people think of workplace safety they’re usually thinking about injuries from heavy machinery or unsafe equipment. While those are indeed important, there are additional workplace health hazards to consider. It’s important that you take the safety in the workplace seriously. Failing to do so can cause serious injury to an employee or visitor. In addition, you can be held liable because you didn’t make their workspace safe.
Hygiene
The danger in the workplace isn’t just about physical injury, it’s also about sickness. Companies lose a lot of money every year through employee illness. What’s worse, is that some illnesses can be attributed to the cleanliness of your workplace. Keeping the office clean is the best way to reduce the number of sick days that your staff are taking. If you’ve got a dirty office that’s teeming with bacteria, people are going to get sick easily. You may want to consider hiring a cleaning service to come in on a regular basis. Furthermore, encourage employees to keep their desk areas and any communal areas clean. If you have a kitchen, make sure it is disinfected daily, and remove old food that often gets left in the fridge. Remind employees mindful of their own mess and keep the office tidy.
Computer Cables
An office full of computers is a big trip hazard and it’s up to you to get rid of that danger. You need to keep all of those cords tied up and out of the way so people don’t get caught on them and fall. The easiest way to do it is to use split cable glands and cord grips to keep them underneath the desks. You could also consider switching to wireless devices where possible. Swapping out desktop computers for laptops will massively reduce the number of cables lying around.
Bad Lighting
Bad lighting is an office danger that people often forget about. If you’ve got bad lighting in the office, employees will strain their eyes when looking at their computer screen all day long. It also increases the chance of any trips and falls when the lighting is low. Lighting that’s too strong is also a danger, especially if it’s those bright neon lights because it can cause headaches and eye strain. The best thing to do is try to get as much natural light into the office. It’s better for the health of your employees and it’s also been proven to improve productivity. If you’re struggling to get natural light in, give your employees more freedom to take short breaks and get outside.
Repetitive Strain Injury
When you’re using a computer all day, you aren’t at risk of the same kind of injuries that you would be when operating heavy machinery. Repetitive strain injury is a big problem for people working in an office space. Typing and clicking a mouse all day long can lead to damage to the joints and ligaments on the hands. You can reduce the effects with ergonomic keyboards, and allowing your employees to have regular breaks so they can rest their hands.
Back pain is a big problem as well. Sitting down all day can lead to long-term back problems. When buying the furniture for your office you’ll want to keep costs low but you shouldn’t buy cheap chairs. Spend a bit more money on some proper chairs that offer good support. Again, it’s also important that you give them regular breaks so they can stand up and walk around. That’s vital because sitting down for long periods has been linked to a whole host of health problems including obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Motivation levels can also suffer a lot if people aren’t allowed to get up every now and again.
These workplace dangers are often missed by employers but if you aren’t careful, they could come back to bite you.
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