Health and safety at work form a huge part of your duty of care as an employer. It’s your job to protect your employees’ health, safety, and welfare. Each year on the 28th of April, World Day for Safety & Health at Work promotes the importance of this across the globe.
This year, the theme is Inclusive and sustainable occupational safety and health. The theme focuses on involving both employers and employees in prioritising their own health and safety, as well as those around them.
The day encourages organisations to incorporate safety and health into workplace culture. To do this, managers, senior leaders and HR staff must join together in efforts to implement policies and procedures that work. This cohesion creates a workplace environment where employees feel supported to raise concerns or issues.
Below we’ve put together some points to help you make the most of World Day for Safety & Health at Work this year.
Start the conversation
Let the day act as a springboard to kick start conversations around health and safety at work. Remember that health and safety at work covers a broad spectrum of topics, from stress and mental health issues to physical injury and adequate protection.
The types of conversations you hold will be dependent upon the industry or sector your organisation falls into. If you work in an office environment, your focus might be on how to tackle stress. For construction companies, your main concern might be ensuring workers are always wearing PPE.
When you’ve settled on what’s most important, try to get the ball rolling and communicate reminders to employees about how to stay safe and healthy at work. It could be with an email, via management or in a company-wide meeting.
Consider physical and mental health
It’s your job to protect your people from harm whilst working. Many risks could threaten an employee’s health at work. These risks can threaten both physical and mental health in the workplace. And while these mental health risks might not always be as easy to spot as the physical ones, they are still just as important.
Mental health issues cost UK employers £7.9 billion per year. Costs rack up due to absences, low productivity, and poor morale. Impacts like these can be detrimental to your people and your organisation. That’s why any step you can make to improve mental health is a positive one.
Revisit your risk assessment
Risk assessments can quickly become outdated due to changing work environments, procedures, and equipment. So it’s essential to revisit your risk assessment regularly or when you think it might be necessary.
Take a rigorous approach to identify all hazards employees might cross paths with at work. Look at the various roles and responsibilities and consider measures you can implement that will help to protect your employees.
When carrying out your risk assessment, consider the mental health risks too. Look at workloads, team sizes, potential stressors, and ways you can mitigate these impacts.
