Business owners should take precautions to prevent accidents at work. They would otherwise be responsible. As a business owner, it is your duty to keep employees and customers safe. Unfortunately, accidents can still happen in your workplace despite your efforts to take precautions.
So, if you are need of some advice on the different measures that you can take to ensure that you are keeping your businesses and its customers safe then here a few ways you can do just that.
Alert customers to dangers
If your business contains inherent risks, then it would be wise to have customers and clients alike to not only wear the proper safety equipment ion your premises but to also sign exemptions or post warning signs of innate risks.
However, be aware that laws may vary in terms of the exemption and whether or not they can be applied. It is also important to note that risky projects are likely to have higher insurance premiums for small businesses.
Get insurance coverage
Claims for incidents of business liability can be expensive. Public liability insurance can cover customers who are injured at your premises or workplace and will also provide yours with protection against these types of claims.
This will most useful for providing legal protection if the customer decides to sue. This protection may also be paid for repairing or replacing customer property accidentally damaged by you.
If your business if following all of the necessary safety precautions and warning customers of any risks ahead of time, then insurance will help to cover the legal cost of fighting a lawsuit.
Install warning signs if a place is unsafe or dangerous
Make sure the staff know that if they encounter a dangerous situation, they should report it immediately. If your workplace is unsafe and cannot be fixed immediately, warning signs must be given to inform employees and customers of the potential hazard.
Warning, for example, is appropriate if the floors have been mopped recently. There are warning sign regulations that you must meet in our workplace, so ensure that you are following these correctly to avoid any legal repercussions if a lawsuit was to follow at some point.
Inspect the premises regularly
The best way to prevent accidents or physical harm is to periodically check the workplace for potential risks. Inspection should be scheduled at regular intervals, for example, weekly or monthly, but you can also perform inspections on occasions to see how the job usually looks without being ready.
There are four main levels of safety inspection that can be carried out at your workplace. These are safety tours, safety sampling, safety surveys and incident inspections. These inspections vary in level of intensity. For example, a general inspections will merely asses your workplace for ensuring it adheres to health and safety guidelines, whereas a safety sampling will asses in detail certain dangerous activities, processes and areas of the workplace.
Maintain equipment and tools
Your businesses resources and equipment can become defective or break down without regular maintenance, threatening customers and employees. This means it is important that you are regularly cleaning and testing your equipment and tools regularly to ensure safe operations and good working conditions.
If any equipment needs to be repaired or replaced, then it is important that you do so. If faulty equipment is found to be the reason for a customer or a client’s injury, then you will be held fully accountable.
Ensuring you have a safe business space for employees, customers and clients alike aren’t difficult. You just need to make a little effort an put the time into keeping your businesses space is adhering to health and safety guidelines.
