Help to Prevent Accidents From Occurring Within Your Workplace

Accident prevention within the workplace is a major priority as any accidents that do take place are bad news both for the person who has been injured and for the employer. As an employer, you should ensure that you employees are aware of the dangers that may befall them and what can be done to prevent any injuries. If you are an employee on the other hand, you have the right to be made aware of any dangers within your workplace and know how to avoid causing yourself an injury.

Over half of the injuries that take place every year within the workplace are due to slips, trips or falls. Picture your working environment in your head now; can you think of any trailing cables that may be lying across the floor? Do any pieces of carpet stick up? These two examples can both cause a person to trip and you can bet that there are many more hazards just like this within your workplace that may look innocent enough, but could cause serious damage. However, by taking simple, yet effective precautions, it is arguable that these types of accidents could be the easiest to prevent.

Most dangers can be prevented by simply reassessing your working environment, highlighting the potential dangers and finding solutions to reduce the threats. For instance, the danger of those trailing cables could be reduced by utilising a floor cable cover protector and that protruding piece of carpet could be pinned back down.

However, several dangers remain constant such as utilising certain machines within a factory for instance. In respect of these types of hazards, it is essential to ensure that everyone is made aware of them so that injuries can be avoided at all costs.

Various health and safety training courses are available for those looking to gain that extra knowledge about accident prevention. Because of the fact that slip, trip and fall accidents are so common, there are courses available that focus entirely on this subject.

Unsurprisingly, almost a third of all serious fall injuries involve ladders. However, other fall hazards may not seem quite as apparent. An everyday act such as walking down a flight of stairs may seem innocent enough, but even this can turn dangerous if a person was to fall and sustain an injury. In order to prevent these accidents from taking place, simple steps can be taken like ensuring that the correct ladder is being used or installing a handrail onto the stairs. A falls prevention training programme can help you to identify areas within your workplace that you may not normally think to be dangerous, show you how they are in fact a potential threat and teach you ways to reduce the risk of falls.

Stopping yourself and others from sustaining an injury can done easily by simply attending a health and safety course to learn of these dangers. As an employee, you will gain awareness and can prevent yourself and others from suffering severe pain. As an employer, you will be ensuring that your employees are working within a safe environment, as well as protecting yourself against any disciplinary actions that may have taken place if an injury were to occur as a result of ignorance.