The Importance of Worker Safety and 6 Ways to Ensure It

Worker safety is something that every organization needs to ensure to boost the morale of its workers as well as reduce unwanted consequences for the organization and for the workers. It refers to providing workers with a safe environment, easy-to-use equipment, and proper protective materials such as gloves, helmets, etc. so that workplace accidents are reduced or eliminated. While it might sound quite simple, ensuring workplace safety is much harder. Many uncontrollable factors might lead to jeopardizing workplace safety – inclement weather and distracted workers are just a few examples.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at why worker safety is crucial, some ways to ensure it, and how an OSHA recordkeeping application can help reduce workplace injuries and streamline OSHA compliance, among other benefits.

What is workplace safety?

To understand its importance, let’s take a closer look at workplace safety. It ensures that workers get a safe, secure, and healthy work environment, and the term is interchangeably used with worker safety by many. A lot of factors influence workplace safety such as workplace hazards, dangerous working conditions, the employees themselves, and even workplace violence.

CloudApper Safety

Simplify OSHA record-keeping to improve
workplace safety

Stay Compliant With OSHA Regulations

Identify And Reduce Workplace Safety Risks

Improvise Incident Tracking and Recordkeeping

Contact Us

A few consequences of not ensuring workplace safety are:

• Increased accidents and incidents
• Hampered productivity
• Increased turnover
• Demotivated employees
• Hefty violation fines
• Loss of goodwill
• Lower bottom lines

As can be seen, not ensuring worker safety is detrimental for both organizations and employees. This is precisely why regulatory agencies like OSHA exist – to keep organizations in check and to ensure that they are abiding by the practices that ensure workplace safety. In fact, OSHA fines organizations that are not adhering to the rules and regulations up to $134,937 per violation. 

So, how can organizations improve worker safety and ensure a safe work environment?

6 strategies to improve worker safety

Provide regular training regarding worker safety

One of the simplest but most effective strategies is to educate workers regarding their own safety. Provide safety training to both old and new employees, and do it regularly, sharing the best practices in an engaging manner. Also, enlighten them about the dangers of not adhering to safety practices – this helps them realize that both the organization and the individuals are responsible for employee safety. Moreover, provide training whenever a new process, equipment, or machinery is introduced within the organization – this helps to not only optimize operations but also helps employees work and safely operate the new equipment.

Adopt practices that help identify workplace hazards and improve worker safety

While not all workplace hazards can be identified beforehand, having processes in place does help prevent injuries and illnesses. For instance, encourage workers to not only report incidents, accidents, but also near misses. While many organizations might overlook near misses, the responsible ones address them so that they do not convert to accidents down the line. 

Work on employee safety continuously

Organizations operate in a dynamic and competitive environment, which is why they need to adapt to new practices quickly and frequently. This has a direct result on workplace safety as well, meaning that organizations must continuously work on addressing issues and improving employee safety. Those who implement workplace safety practices and don’t work to improve or adjust them afterward can face unwanted consequences down the road. 

Hire workplace safety professionals

Workplace safety is a serious issue – it always has been. However, it is more crucial than ever;  this is why organizations are hiring safety professionals to ensure that the best practices that fit the organization are in place, ensure employee safety, and reduce chances of OSHA violations. Hiring professionals that have experience in implementing effective workplace safety measures can go a long way.

Ensure compliance with regulatory agencies

As previously mentioned, OSHA keeps organizations in check to see if they are ensuring ample workplace safety measures. One of the best ways to ensure workplace safety and avoid fines is by complying with OSHA. By following the rules and regulations set by OSHA, organizations can help save significant costs, improve workplace safety, and boost the bottom lines. 

 However, OSHA recordkeeping can be an administrative burden for many. Fortunately, Safety Assure can help with that.

Implement OSHA recordkeeping applications

CloudApper Safety is an OSHA recordkeeping software that helps streamline OSHA compliance and remove the administrative burden. It has a host of useful features that can help save significant costs and boost the bottom line. 

It can help save paper wastage and reduce the extra burden as everything regarding OSHA is recorded within the application itself, keeping everything centralized. Moreover, Safety has an incident and accident reporting module where workers can report such cases using their smartphones, thus ensuring quicker response times. By conducting internal audits with the help of CloudApper Safety, organizations can find out their weak spots and eliminate them – ensuring worker safety.

Curious about how Safety can help you streamline OSHA compliance? Contact us now to know how it can fulfill your OSHA compliance needs.