It’s a basic human desire – to feel protected. So naturally, every time your staff turn up for work they want to feel safe and secure, to be sure that nothing will put them at risk or cause them any mental or physical harm.
Creating a safe working environment is an important part of your duty of care as an employer. And you have a number of legal obligations to guarantee the welfare of your workforce.
These include the requirement to ensure your premises and working practises are as safe as possible – protecting workers from potentially toxic materials, from dangerous machinery or processes, from hazardous obstacles that could cause an accident, and from environmental extremes like excessive heat or cold that could cause distress or sickness.
But your responsibilities also encompass shielding your staff from excess stress or being bullied or harassed. You are responsible for their personal security – especially late at night or when they are working alone. Plus you should have policies on smoking and drug and alcohol abuse that help defend them from the potentially harmful actions of less responsible colleagues.
You might think that it all adds up to quite a lot of responsibility – not to mention the cost of implementing it. Yes, it does cost a little more in time, effort and money to make sure that you have a happy and safe workforce, but it really can pay dividends.
These dividends include a loyal and co-operative workforce that will go that extra mile to help your business run more smoothly and effectively and give genuine customer satisfaction.
So, if you’re running a business – no matter what size it is – take a long, hard, objective look at your premises and working practices. Think whether conditions need to be improved, how you could do this and how much it will cost. Think about your workforce – are they cheerful and co-operative or are they surly and only do as little work as they can get away with? Then sit down and work out a plan for improvement. It doesn’t all have to happen at once – you can do it step-by-step. But one thing is certain, you’ll definitely see an improvement in staff morale!
Author: Diana Nadin
