As a small business owner, you are responsible for understanding the safety risks your workers face and taking steps to mitigate them. Small businesses often experience unique challenges to protecting worker safety, and taking the time to identify and mitigate risks is key.
Learn tips for maintaining health and safety for small businesses, then request occupational health services in Wichita, KS, from WorkSafe.
Safety Risks and Challenges for Small Businesses
Studies have shown that small-scale enterprises are at higher risk of occupational accidents and exhibit poorer safety and health performance than larger enterprises. This is due to a few challenges small businesses face:
- Lack of financial resources: Small businesses may not have sufficient revenue to fund PPE, worker physicals, medical surveillance, and other interventions to mitigate and manage injuries. They may also not see this as a priority, causing them to spend money elsewhere even if they have sufficient revenue.
- High work demands for owners or managers: Owners and managers of small businesses often face extensive workloads and long, irregular hours, which can limit their ability to oversee employee health and safety. They may also not have time to learn about health and safety for small businesses or implement compliance measures.
- Lack of support from occupational health services: Small businesses are less likely to have in-house human resources teams or occupational health representatives to monitor workplace safety and recommend adjustments. They need to be proactive about seeking occupational health services outside of the business, but limited revenue could make this challenging.
- Inexperienced workers: In some cases, a business is small because it is in its early stages. This means that workers may have limited experience performing tasks, making them more likely to make errors that lead to accidents or injuries.
Identifying the risk factors in your small business is an important step in overcoming them.
Managing Workplace Health and Safety in Your Small Business
Understanding occupational health and safety in your business involves thoroughly examining hazards that may expose your workers to injuries. These tips can help you maintain a safe, healthy work environment.
Review Regulatory Compliance Requirements
Certain industries are subject to regulatory compliance guidelines that promote safety. For example, manufacturing and industrial facilities must comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules, while food production facilities must meet labeling requirements set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Identifying the regulatory guidelines that apply to your business should be a top priority. Take the time to thoroughly understand the guidelines you are legally required to meet, as this will protect both your business and your employees.
Identify Hazards in Your Business
Every small business has unique occupational hazards. Conduct a risk assessment to identify the major hazards in your business so you can ensure that any mitigation strategies directly address those hazards.
Working with an occupational health services business is an effective way to identify hazards in your workplace. These businesses can review your day-to-day operations from a professional, non-biased perspective, using their thorough understanding of occupational risks to pinpoint hazards that you may not otherwise realize are putting your employees in danger.
Conduct Regular Employee Safety Trainings
Safety training is important whether your workers are new to their roles or have been working for you for years. Incorporating these trainings into your schedule gives you an opportunity to:
- Review employees’ adherence to safety protocols
- Reinforce the importance of following safe work practices
- Train workers in updated procedures
- Remind workers of the proper way to use PPE and when they should be wearing it
- Answer questions about occupational safety that workers may not feel comfortable asking on a normal workday
Create Occupational Safety Policies
Your business should have clear, step-by-step procedures that workers follow when conducting high-risk processes. You should also have strict safety policies that prohibit unsafe practices and enumerate consequences for failing to adhere to procedures, such as demotion or termination.
Having documentation surrounding your business’s health and safety will prevent confusion among your workforce and demonstrate that you take this topic seriously.
Contact WorkSafe for Occupational Health Services
Occupational health and safety are worth investing in for small businesses. Safe, healthy, satisfied employees are the backbone of your business, and compliance with regulatory guidelines allows your business to continue operating smoothly without incurring penalties or the risk of a shutdown.
WorkSafe helps Wichita businesses create a safety culture through risk assessments and occupational injury management. Contact us today at 316-262-8800 to learn how we can help you.