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Improving your office Health and Safety

When we think of health and safety we often think of industries such as construction and manufacturing, whose work environments are typically littered with hundreds of safety hazards.

Offices are often the last places we think of as unsafe or potentially hazardous.

However, the latest figures show that around 10% (6,240) of all workplace injuries occurred within an office environment. We have put together a short list of easy-to-implement tips to improve your office health and safety.

These tips will quickly boost the safety in your workplace when implemented well, and will also aid in improving the overall health and safety practices in your organisation.

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Removing trip and slip hazards

One of the easiest things you can immediately implement is removing trip hazards.

Whether it’s an object in a walkway or a loose cable, fixing this small issue can help prevent trips and falls, which are the leading cause of workplace injuries in the UK according to the HSE (making up 30% of all injuries).

To prevent injuries occurring from trips, make sure all walkways are clear of objects, spills are cleaned up and any overhanging objects are moved to a safer place.

Well-organised cable management will also aid your overall safety, as it stops a loose cable from potentially being dragged into somebody’s way, creating a trip hazard. Anti-slip mats can also be a great option for entrances, and remember to keep your floors dry.

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Checking equipment regularly

Another simple step that can be taken is to check over all your equipment, from wires to machinery. This will make sure that no faulty equipment will be used that would potentially pose a health and safety risk – varying in severity based on the problem.

You need to check for faults, wear and damage.

If any problems are found, the equipment must not be used due to the safety hazard, and should also be removed to stop others from endangering themselves. It should only be put back in use when it is fixed to a high standard or replaced.

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Regular employee training

Another easy tool you could implement in your workplace is regular training. This can be done either online or physically, and will make sure you and your colleagues all know the correct procedures and safety measures to use.

Online learning, often referred to as ‘e-learning’, will be the easier one to implement. It will both save time on travel and allow your organisation to schedule and monitor the training all in one place.

This will therefore keep everyone’s knowledge up to date, which in turn creates a safer workspace.

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Electrical outlets

Regular checks for your electrical outlets are necessary to maintain a high safety standard, and all employees should know about the risks associated with electrical outlets.

Some common mistakes include overloading outlets, putting liquids near electrics, and resting objects on outlets.

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Overall, implementing these quick tips will help to prevent injuries caused by common avoidable hazards. It will also bring awareness to the common hazards that you might not think of, which in turn will make your office a safer environment to work.

We have created an online Health and Safety at Work course which goes into greater detail concerning the office health and safety tips we have provided in this blog.

To also learn more about the other training courses we provide, click here.

Source

HSE (2023) ‘Index of data tables’. Available at: https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/index.htm#riddor (accessed: 19/04/2023)

HSE (2023) ‘Health and safety statistics’. Available at: https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/index.htm (accessed: 19/04/2023)