Employee Health and Safety: Are You Looking After Your Employees?
It’s important to be aware that as a business owner, you have a responsibility to your employees. You need to make sure that they remain healthy and safe. If you’re not sure your business is taking the necessary measures go and take a refresher Safety Committee Training NSW course to ensure you’re doing everything you can.
Many people think that this only applies to what happens to employees inside the office or on business property. However, this isn’t quite true, and your responsibilities actually extend beyond this. So, let’s explore how to look after your employees the right way and ensure that they are well cared for.
It has to be said, according to David Rowland, Head of Marketing at Engage EHS, that the responsibility for health and safety starts with the directors of a business. However, if they get this right, and instigate a cultural shift in their company, the benefits can include greater brand loyalty and a higher bottom line.
Employee Health and Safety: Safe From Injury
One of the biggest issues that you can face as a business owner is personal injury lawsuits. Personal injury lawsuits are far more common than most people realize and can easily cripple a business.
If you are found liable for an injury that an employee sustains, you could face a bill that will cost your company hundreds of thousands of pounds. This is the last thing that you want, and it’s not just relevant for dangerous jobs.
You can consult with the best employment lawyer New York City to guide you on the legal aspects once your employee obtained an injury in the workplace. They can also help you improve your employee guidelines and handbook to prevent further injuries. In worst-case scenarios, they can represent you as well in court in case you face a lawsuit.
Indeed, one of the most common types of injury in the business world today is RSI. This can be caused by typing for an extended period with a completely wrong posture while sitting on low-quality furniture.
Ergonomic furniture can certainly help here and ensure that your employees remain in fantastic health.
You can also utilize employees’ health and safety by contributing to their healthcare. Companies like Sana offer healthcare coverage and tools that your staff could take advantage of.
You can read here why Sana works, but it’s definitely worth considering some sort of healthcare scheme to help look after your employees.
Handling Personal Issues
While it is not technically your job to help your employees with personal issues, it can be a benefit to your business if you do this. Personal issues outside the office can easily spread to the office and begin to impact levels of productivity.
This isn’t going to be good for you, your employee, or the business as a whole. To avoid this problem, you need to make sure that you are talking with your employees and recognizing the signs that something might be wrong.
Perhaps they are overly stressed, or maybe they are showing signs of addictive behavior. Once you understand that an employee is facing an issue like this, you can get them the support they need, like addiction therapy. For this to happen, employees need to trust you and see you or someone in your business as someone they can talk to.
A Healthy Environment
Of course, you might also want to think about ensuring that you do provide a healthy environment for your employees. This is another one of your key responsibilities. It would help if you made sure that there are no company issues with harassment or bullying. Both can cause problems and impact multiple employees.
Some businesses adopt anti-harassment training for issues like this, and that’s definitely something that might be worth considering. We hope this helps you understand how to look after employees the right way.
Remember, you do have a responsibility here. Still, it’s also worth going beyond your duties as an employer end to ensure that your workers never feel unable to ask for the help or support they might desperately need from someone.
