How to ensure you’re protected at your place of employment.
There are several key factors to enjoying a long and successful career in whichever occupation you choose, and one of these factors should stand above the rest: workplace safety. Working in an informed and safe environment is obviously crucial to enjoying your job. Any personal injury lawyer will tell you that knowing the risks associated with your work and striving to mitigate them assures more time on the job, accident and pain-free. Employers and their employees are doing better jobs in ensuring their workplace is a safe environment to work in, as lost time claims (due to injury) have fallen from 62,000 in 2008 to 41,500 in 2013 in Ontario alone. Though this decline in numbers is certainly an improvement, there are more ways still that employers can make their workplace even safer, and one of these ways is using a workplace safety checklist:
Know the risks: Some workplaces inherently carry more risk than others, and knowing what kind of risks you are walking into every day on the job will help you avoid the potential injuries abound. A personal injury lawyer will suggest that an employer should generate a workplace safety checklist and distribute that checklist to their employees for information and safekeeping. Notifying employees of the risks of a job in say, construction, will keep them aware of possibly injurious situations and detail steps on how to avoid them.
Knowledge is power: Personal injury lawyers are keenly aware of how unforeseeable some accidents are, and to that end, there is little that can be done in the moment. Having a workplace safety checklist to review will keep employees familiar with policies and procedures that safeguard them from the preventable accidents day-to-day on the job. This workplace safety checklist should assist employees in being mindful when operating machinery, using specialty uniforms or equipment, and/or just going about their job as they would any other day. If you are unsure of how to correctly and safely complete a procedure, a personal injury lawyer will always recommend that you check your workplace safety procedures before beginning your task.
Posting a workplace safety checklist in a high-traffic/visible area, as well as passing individual checklists out to employees will empower them with the knowledge they need to safely and efficiently work every day. A personal injury lawyer would stress that there is no “one size fits all” checklist for every workspace, and that employers should take the time to customize their checklist to speak directly to the jobs they provide. Timely check-ups and updates will ensure that your employees are always up-to-date with the safest procedures, and this will lead to less loss of time claims in the long run. If you have any further questions about the benefits or implementation of a workplace safety checklist, don’t hesitate to contact a local personal injury lawyer and start safe-guarding your job today.
