Every year, thousands of employers end up in court for failing to take health and safety in the workplace seriously. You see, as the boss, it’s your job to make sure that health and safety is taken seriously by your team.

If you fail to do this, accidents or injuries in the workplace may occur, which could lead to you ending up with a serious fine or worse, in court. So, if you’re starting a build a team, it’s crucial that you take health and safety seriously.

It’s your responsibility

The first thing that you should know is that health and safety in your workplace is your responsibility. Well, at least educating your team about it and keeping on top of preventative practices is. If you fail to make health and safety something that your employees are aware of, you could end up in court if a serious accident or injury occurs.

However, by training your team on workplace health and safety and putting measures in place to prevent serious accidents from occurring, you can make it less likely that if an accident occurs it will be seen as being your fault. You see, if you’ve trained all of your staff in how to stay safe at work and provided them with adequate health and safety gear and equipment, then you’re less likely to be found responsible should an accident occur.

Training is the key to prevention

When it comes to workplace accidents and injuries, training is the key to prevention. An employee handling a piece of machinery that they’re not trained to use is always going to end in disaster because they don’t know how to keep themselves safe.

Hence why training is so important when it comes to workplace health and safety. It’s your job to teach your team about the potential dangers that each piece of kit poses, as well as telling them what clothing and footwear they should wear to stay safe.

It’s also important to provide safety gear for your team, such as steel capped boots for instance. If you’re looking for protective footwear for your team, you can find it at Steel Blue or on other specialist websites.

Safety audits are crucial

Last but not least, as an employer, it’s your job to ensure that any areas that could be potentially dangerous are signposted as such. While you could opt to do workplace safety audits yourself, it’s much better to hire a specialist. As that way, you know that nothing has been missed and that your working environment is as safe as possible.

This means that should an accident occur, the chances of you being found to be at fault are much lower.

So there you have it, a guide to everything that you need to know about health and safety as an employer. By taking note of the advice above, you can improve workplace health and safety and prevent the chances of a serious accident or injury occurring and you being found as at fault for it.
This post has been contributed by Ryan Gatt, it may contain affiliate links.