If you have been following our blog, you would have read our posts on Employers’ Liability Insurance for your business. To recap briefly, this is an insurance which indemnifies your business from the risk of legal liability in the event of an injury or fatal accident to one or more of your employees during the conduct of a workplace activity. Needless to say, this is an important insurance for any employer – large or small.
We thought it would also be prudent if we advise you on some quick steps to minimise workplace injuries. Of course this is not an exhaustive list and it is also not an action plan of tasks you need to carry out to keep your work environment safe.
Here are some broad guidelines you can consider as a safety-conscious employer:
1) Train your staff: Employees should be trained in workplace safety and should know how to identify hazards.
2) Conduct maintenance checks: Ensure that your building and all your equipment meet safety standards and conduct regular maintenance to guarantee that it is always up to par.
3) Remove and replace hazardous materials: It is not enough to simply identify hazardous equipment, infrastructure and practices. They should always be removed, replaced or fixed when applicable, and new safety measures implemented.
4) Undertake fire drills: Be sure to adopt a fire drill for your business and train your staff on what to do in case of fire. Make sure you do not block emergency exit points. Clearly identify exit points for the benefit of visitors on your premises.
5) Regularly review your workplace safety policy: Make sure you review your workplace safety policy regularly so that you adopt new and safer practices. Be sure to retrain your staff on these new policies so that they can adopt the best approach. If you do not have a workplace safety policy, you need to adopt one quickly.
6) Make it everyone’s responsibility: Promoting workplace safety is an on-going process. You should always talk to your employees to learn their safety concerns, and they should be encouraged to report newly identified hazards or workplace incidents to allow you to act accordingly.
These broad guidelines will not make your business immune from workplace accidents so it is still advisable that you take out an employers’ liability insurance.