Health and Safety Mistakes in Business

The aim of health and safety in the workplace is to help ensure yourself, your employees and any visitors are kept safe. However, there are a number of health and safety mistakes that businesses make on a regular basis, whether it’s on purpose or a genuine mistake. Health and safety is a minefield and dealing with all aspects of it on your own can be challenging for any business. From trips and falls to loose wires and much more, there are lots of breaches of health and safety that can easily be overlooked.

It’s not just about that either, even things such as bad posture or supporting mental health, could lead to issues with the health and safety in your workplace. No matter what type of business you have it’s important to ensure your health and safety is up to standard and everything is as it should be. Keep reading below to find out more about some of the most common health and safety mistakes that businesses make.

1. Assumptions About Health and Safety

Many businesses make the assumption that health and safety is easy and they think they can do just the bare minimum to keep their business and employees safe, and you wouldn’t believe how many accidents happen outside during winter. However, by assuming health and safety is easy is the first step to ensure failure and compliance. Health and safety is complex when it comes to businesses and you need to ensure active practices are in place, as well as training, policies and procedures and risk assessments.

2. Unorganised and Messy Workspaces

It’s very easy for a workspace to become untidy, and you might overlook certain messes and think they are nothing to worry about. However, most accidents occurs in unorganised and messy workspaces, from falls to slips and much more. Taking the time to clean up, clearing corridors, getting rid of rubbish and clutter, and a number of other things will help to reduce accidents from occurring in the workplace. Reducing hazards is one of the most important parts of health and safety.

3. Training

Health and safety lacks in many workplaces due to a lack of training. Whether it’s training for yourself to give others or training for everyone, training is a great way to promote good health and safety practices. If you fail to have any form of health and safety training in place, and you try to do it alone then your are likely to see health and safety breaches in your workplace. Many people especially in the construction industry undertake IOSH and NEBOSH training, such as the General Certificate or Working Safely.

4. Delaying Testing and Maintenance

If you have a business premises then your building is going to need thing such as gas safety checks, EICRs and a number of other checks to ensure your building and equipment is up to standard. In addition to this if you work in the food industry then you’ll regularly need fridge and freezer temperature checks to ensure your are complying with current guidelines. By slipping behind with testing and maintenance checks, you could be putting your employees at risk.

5. Mental Health

Most staff now take time off work due to mental health issues and although they don’t always state it’s for these reasons most staff take time off because they are at breaking point. From anxiety to stress, the workplace can put a lot of pressure on your employees. From training to help understand manage mental health to adapting workplace practices to promote better staff support, there are a number of things you can do to ensure staff are happier at work. It’s also important to undertake courses to ensure you understand mental health better yourself.