June is Safety Month in North America, and to raise awareness for workplace safety, Refresh Leadership will be highlighting five areas of focus for organizations in all industries. For the first week of Safety Month, we are covering office environment safety.
Safety Month: Office Environment Safety
Office safety is an important issue. We don’t frequently hear of incidents because they are typically minor, but there are some specific dangers in this environment that lead to severe injuries.
People often first think of workstation ergonomics when considering safety in the office. In office environments, businesses should provide the tools to ensure employees maintain good ergonomic positioning when at their workstation. Some workers may feel comfortable and never have a problem being slightly out of position in one way or another, but they should be taught the correct posture and feel confident requesting changes to help them reach that position if they ever feel uncomfortable.
Discomfort may lead to injury over time. Here is a video to help you understand office ergonomics.
With the important topic of ergonomics covered, let’s now focus on slips, trips, and falls to help us understand and prevent most of the severe injuries we encounter in and around office environments.
Slips, Trips, and Falls
Stairs: Material stacked on stairs, lack of a handrail, carrying material on stairs, and stairs that are slippery either because the surface does not provide good traction or something has been spilled on them, are things to keep an eye out for and inquire about at client sites to avoid major injuries.
Parking lots: Yes, even before or after a person has clocked in, an incident in a parking lot can lead to a workers’ compensation claim. Uneven surfaces and cracks in a parking lot that is not well maintained, the lack of an ice clearing plan in cold weather, and poor lighting are things to keep an eye out.
General housekeeping, including break areas: Materials stacked in walkways, or even in a workstation, cords stretched across places people walk or sit, poorly maintained flooring, drawers left open, and spills are things to keep an eye out for. Don’t forget to check the breakroom for the same causes of injuries.
If you look out for these things, you may help your company identify issues they have overlooked, helping make the office safer not only for your employees but anyone else using the space.
Stay tuned for next week’s article where we will shine a light on Welding Safety!
What does your company do to raise awareness to safe procedures in the workplace? Let us know in the comments section below!
No comments yet.