Failing to notice hazards can lead to severe injuries. Not controlling hazards that have been identified often lead to injuries. If hazards are identified and controls are not put in place or improved, workers are left on their own to try and avoid the hazards. Companies must make positive progress in controlling hazards, or workers will soon feel undervalued and stop reporting hazards.
Here are some tips to involve your office in hazard recognition and help protect your employees:
- For environments that are complex or have “heavy” work, perform safety tours more often. Practice and become more comfortable asking follow-up questions.
- Encourage employees to report hazards they find. Then follow up not only with clients, but with the associates who report hazards. Let them know what is being done to protect them.
- Investigate incidents in-person rather than relying only on the client investigation. This allows you the chance to draw your own opinions about controls and if they will be adequate in the future to protect your employees.
- Companies can’t possibly identify ALL hazards and ways to control them at a client site, but they can continue looking and empower employees to look, and most importantly, speak up.
For more information on recognizing hazards, check out OSHA’s site for more detail on hazard assessment and identification.
