The workplace can be very dangerous if you and your staff don’t conduct yourself correctly and while some jobs carry more risk than others, you must ensure you remain vigilant to avoid any long-lasting damage that could keep you from working. This could ultimately cost your staff lots of money in lost wages, so avoiding injuries is essential.
It’s estimated that more than 1.8 million workers suffered from some sort of work-related issue last year and one of the most common problems was musculoskeletal damage. These injuries can be caused by a range of errors such as trips or slips, falling objects or incorrect use of heavy equipment.
The latter is one that can definitely be avoided and we’re here to tell you exactly how to do that, so you can keep yourself and your employees safer. This will benefit you in the long run as your staff shouldn’t need time off work for this injury, which could impact your overall productivity. Read on to find out how you can safeguard this better.
Risk assessment
Risk assessments are a legal requirement as part of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and help you highlight any dangers that staff members need to be wary of. From here, you’ll need to develop a safety plan to manage these dangers and your heavy equipment should be a part of this. The following are some examples of ways you can mitigate the threat that these machines pose.
Training
Improper training means operating heavy-duty equipment could be done incorrectly, which could put workers in more danger. That’s why providing extensive training before anyone operates a specific machine is essential. This can show employees how to use it properly and what to do in an emergency too.
Secure the heavy equipment
Moving heavy machinery could hit your staff members and cause injury, which is why the equipment should be secured in place. One of the best ways to do this is to use eye bolts like these here to keep the equipment from moving.
Maintenance
Any machinery will need to be looked after over time with the correct maintenance procedures and failure to do this could put your staff members at risk. Not only will this reduce the threat for employees but it will also make the machines more efficient, which should benefit your business more.
