Top 4 Tips for Making an Office & the Grounds Safer for Employees

There are clearly safety considerations for the office of a company and also its grounds, such as the parking lot and pathways near to the building. The last thing the business needs is an employee injuring themselves on the premises and making a workplace injury-related claim. It would distract from the core business operations and be inconvenient for everyone concerned.

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Here are the top 4 tips for improving the safety for employees coming onto the grounds and inside the office.

1.         Beware of Falling Objects

You’d be amazed how easy it is for something to fall out of an office cabinet and land on an employee’s hand, wrist, knee, leg or foot. It can happen at the oddest times and without warning. A lever arch file not put back properly suddenly slides down, knocks into another file, and then changes trajectory!  Other times, something put temporarily on top of a cabinet gets forgotten about but someone bumping into the cabinet can accidentally dislodge it.

It is sensible to keep an eye on what is stored where and double-check that nothing is kept where it shouldn’t be. Securing guard rails inside cabinets where lever arch files are stored makes it necessary to physically lift a lever arch file up and out to remove it from the cabinet. At other times, closing the cabinet doors when the items inside are not needed avoids issues altogether.

2.         Avoiding Repetitive Strain and Eye Strain

For knowledge workers who use their keyboards and mouse regularly, they must be positioned correctly to avoid later issues with repetitive strain, carpal tunnel and other related problems. Sometimes this purely comes down to how many years they’ve been typing away on a computer, but quite often it’s mostly due to poor posture. The height of their chair, the position of the desk and the angle of their wrists and hands make a huge difference over time. Train an employee on the proper way people should be working and then have them educate the workforce to avoid issues in the future.

Make sure everyone takes regular breaks from the computer every hour to avoid eye strain too. Problems with the back and neck are also commonplace for knowledge workers who don’t take time to stretch out and relieve any built-up tension they develop while diligently working.

3.         Tripping Hazards Can Occur Outside Too

Tripping hazards where an employee falls over something on or near the floor is something to avoid. However, the exterior of the building can be an issue too. Curbs might have broken paving or chips might be evident in asphalt parking lots in front of the building and cause an employee or visitor to trip and fall. Hiring asphalt driveway contractors to come in, check the area and rectify any spots of concern is a good idea to avoid potential accidents before they occur.

4.         Walk, Don’t Run!

Even during high-pressure times, employees must not run in the office or the grounds outside. It’s far too easy for them to slip, fall and injury themselves that way. It doesn’t matter how urgent the matter is, moving too quickly is unnecessary and employees must be reminded of this if they’re unaware. Wearing suitable footwear in the office that’s easy to walk in is important too.

Keeping office workers safe from injury isn’t that difficult to achieve. It does require a re-think about how the office furniture is arranged and the way items are stored. But overall, if employees are sensible and mindful of the risks of doing something careless or ill-advised, any problems should be minor ones.