Before You Open Up Your Office, Have You Remembered These Safety Details?
When you want to open up your official business headquarters, you can’t let the celebration of finally having a central hub get in the way of ticking off all the necessary health and safety!
It’s essential to focus on the small details here, and make sure they’re not going to accidentally land a negligence claim on your desk within the next year.
After all, if a risk slips past your safety review, both employees and visitors alike have the chance to get injured.
Neither is a professional look for your business, and it could also be very expensive to try and rectify the issue once it’s already caused a problem.
So with all that in mind, here are some of the smaller safety details you shouldn’t forget about when you’ve finally got a workplace to call your own.
How Noisy is the Office?
When the workplace is a bit too loud, it’s hard to get work done. It’s hard to get any good work done, more specifically, because there are just far too many distractions going on.
However, this could also become a safety issue if the noise level grows out of control. If there’s a fire alarm going off non-stop, for example, your business could be at risk of needing to shut down and let everyone go home.
Indeed, OSHA guidelines state that a workday where the noise grows to 85db requires employers to hand out hearing protection, and that’s not something you want to catch you off guard.
Is the Parking Lot Well Lit?
No matter how small the parking lot is, or who it’s meant to be used by, it needs to be well illuminated all year round. If someone’s operating a vehicle, they need to be able to see where they’re going!
In the summer, soft commercial parking lot lighting is great for helping to offset any shady areas, as well as the harsher bright sun that could obscure a driver’s vision.
In the winter, anyone arriving early is going to need more light to navigate, thanks to the longer night periods. And when you all leave at 5pm, it’s likely to already be dark out!
Is it Clear Where Safety Issues Can Be Reported?
You need to give employees clear direction over who they can go to when they have a safety issue.
So, who is responsible for handling any health risks that exist in the workplace? You need to make it clear in your health and safety policy who is on duty as a safety supervisor, whether or not that's their main job.
As such, employees can report any worries to that person immediately, where they can then shut down work (if required), or simply pass it up the chain of command so a solution can be found.
When you’re about to open up your business’ first office, you need to stop and double check your safety precautions. Make sure you remember the issues above in the rush as well!
