How to Combat Workplace Safety Risks

In UK, the number of injuries that re taking place in office jobs is slowly escalating to alarming levels. One may be fooled to think that people working outside of offices are the ones in danger but this is turning out not to be the case. A total of about 10million people work in offices in UK. There is therefore a need to come up with safety measures that will help reduce the chances of accidents occurring in office settings. The Health and Safety Executive outlines some of the safety techniques we can use to prevent injuries at our workplaces, especially in offices.

Injuries in offices mainly occur due to tripping, slipping and falls among other.

Proper sitting postures

The National Health Service carried out a survey and found out that nearly 7.6 million work days are lost every year due to problems to do with back pains. Back pains are mainly caused by our poor postures when we are carrying on with our daily duties in the office. It is advices that we sit in an upright posture to prevent chances of back pains. Sometimes our computer screens are set at a position that is bound to make us strain to use. When at your desk, always take into consideration the height of your chair and also the position of the computer keyboard. These are some of the practices that will prevent you from experiencing back pains. Regular breaks from your desk or your computer screen will go a long way in ensuring that you don’t experience these pains. Employers can also improve the productivity of their employees when they take these matters into consideration. It is a legal requirement in UK that employers put a conducive environment from where workers can work from.

Manual handling of equipment’s

Any office in UK is bound to have printers and maybe water dispensers that require regular filing. The regular movement of object from one place to another in the office can lead to serious problems associated with our backs. Sometimes it’s not about the weight of the machine rather the way we are handling it. HSE has procedures that guide people on how they need to handle the equipment’s at the office. The way we carry ourselves at the office determine a lot of we will be injured or not and everyone needs to be cautions with the way they carry the equipment’s at the office. One of the most convenient ways to carry equipment without the risk of back pain is to make sure that your back is always straight and that the load is close to your waist.

Relieving stress

Stress is one of the major problem in offices around UK. It can emanate from different sources such as lack of enough sleep, a difficult boss or tight deadlines. Employees need to device ways that they can deal with stress at workplaces. Stress in itself is not something bad. However, when it gets to certain levels, it can greatly affect the productivity of an individual in terms of their mental shape and physical health. Stress levels can be elevated to a point where employees fail to show up in work places. One of the ways that HSE advices us to deal with stress is making sure that we take regular breaks and breathing. Engaging in some little exercise is also one way that you can deal with work related stress. Sometimes the pressure of the work may be too much to the extent that you need to take a few minute stroll down street just to get back to your productive levels.

Eliminating potential risks

As stated earlier, some of the common causes of accidents in workplaces include tripping and slipping. There are times when we spot spillage in the office or a loose wire that may easily cause someone to trip but we end up not doing anything about it. HSE advices that we need to assess all the potential risks in the office area and eliminate them before they turn into accidents. It is also a legal requirement in UK for employers to make sure that the environment is safe at all times and there are no potential risk that employees are exposed to. Risk assessment s vital or every business. It is a procedure that needs to be conducted before people commence work at the office. It also needs to be conducted by a professional who will ascertain the types of risk and the control measures that need to be put in place. Employees should also report any cases of potential risk to the right authorities at the office.

Reducing sickness absence

The government of Britain is trying to reduce the number of hours that employees waste when they are on sick absence. There are certain legislations that were passed and they directly affect the absence that takes more than 4 weeks. Proper assessment will be carried out to determine the extent of an employee’s sickness and the cost that they will incur on the medication.

Get a new job

One way that you can eliminate all the accidents you are experiencing at your workplace is getting a new job. This should, however, be the last resort. You can be the next health and safety exert in UK. There is no point struggling to cope with the dangers that you are exposed to at your office. This is especially if there are no measures that are being put in place to ensure your safety.

Employers in UK are required by law to ensure that their work environments are as safe as possible before any work can be done. He law on safety clearly outlines the measures that employers should make sure are present at the offices before work can officially commence.

The law clearly hives the HSE and local Authority the power and jurisdiction to prosecute people that violate all the safety procedures laid or any business premise in the United Kingdom.  All employees in the UK are required by law to put in pace measures that will guarantee their employees the best safety possible. Employees can always file a complaint with the HSE just in case they feel that the working conditions are not suiting them properly. The employers are also required to document all the safety procedures that they have put in place just to make sure that it is complying with the law.

Some of the employers in UK have gone a notch hire and hired some health professional as consultants in matters safety and health in the workplace. These people help their businesses to comply with all the safety standards set by the HSE. Constant assessment of the risk is also one of the ways that the employers can avoid violating the law. There are many potential risks in the workplaces and employers should come up with measures to eliminate them as soon as possible.