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Why Buying Safety Cones for Your Business Is Important

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StrategyDriven Human Performance Management Article | Why Buying Safety Cones for Your Business Is Important

Running a business means you need to do many different things and wear many different hats, and the worry is that something will fall through the cracks; even if you think you’ve got it all in hand, there might be something you’re missing out on, and you just don’t know it.

One of those things could be the use of safety cones in your business. It’s true this isn’t going to be something that every business owner in every niche is going to need to consider, but if you do because you work in a sector that relies on cones or you just want to use them around your workplace, then keep reading – this blog will remind you just how important they are and ensure you don’t forget about them.

Prevent Accidents and Injuries

Safety cones are an ideal way to help prevent – as far as it’s possible to prevent – accidents and injuries in the workplace. By placing them in strategic positions, you can easily warn your workers about any hazards and let customers know there’s an area they need to avoid. Of course, you shouldn’t use cones like this on a permanent basis; they’re just there to warn people about a problem while you get around to fixing it. However, they’re an ideal way to ensure that everyone stays safe until that time comes.

As an employer, one of your duties is always going to be to your team, and keeping them safe in the workplace is a priority. Firstly, it’s the right and moral thing to do, but as well as that, it will save you money and potentially a lot of legal issues – if a worker is hurt, they’ll be off work (which can be expensive), they might sue or claim on your insurance, and they could take you to court, which would be bad for your reputation.

Good Communication

Business owners have to be good at communication, no matter what sector they’re in or who they might be speaking to. That means they need to be great at verbal communication, written communication, and, at times, non-verbal communication – signs and information, in other words.

Safety cones are an excellent example of how a business owner can use non-verbal communication to easily put a message across about safety (in the situations we mentioned above, for example). They’re bright with reflective surfaces, which can be seen even in low-light conditions. A business owner who knows how to use safety cones is a business owner who understands how to communicate.

Cost-Effective

Business owners have to keep an eye on costs at all times, and they’ll need to ensure anything and everything they buy for the business is within their budget. In most cases, safety cones will be within a business’s budget; they’re an inexpensive way to keep people safe, control traffic and movement, and gain the trust of your staff and anyone else who happens to come to your place of work.

When you add up all the benefits and think about how little safety cones cost in comparison, you’ll see they’re a great investment for your business.

Ensuring PPE Compliance and Overcoming Resistance in the Workplace

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StrategyDriven Human Performance Management Article | Ensuring PPE Compliance and Overcoming Resistance in the Workplace

Every year, countless workers get injured due to not wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) properly, or even at all. PPE is essential in workplaces because it minimizes exposure to ergonomic, physical, chemical and biological hazards. While there are clear guidelines concerning where and how workers should wear PPE, many disregard it for different reasons. In this article, we will look at some of those reasons and some ways employers can ensure PPE compliance in workplaces.

Provide Adequate Training and Education

Most workers will understand why they should wear PPE if managers and leaders explain why doing so is important. Businesses can start by investigating cases where workers have been injured for not wearing PPE. For example, a worker might have been seriously injured by a falling object. However, they would have avoided the injuries, or the injuries would have been minimal if they were wearing PPE. Pointing out such cases will cement the importance of PPE in your worker’s minds.

Next, you should educate them on what types of PPE they should wear for specific tasks. Some workers do not wear PPE because they do not know which ones they should wear, but this solves that issue.

Ensure the PPE Is Comfortable

One of the main reasons workers do not wear PPE is because they find it too uncomfortable. They might also find it difficult to perform their duties while wearing it. For these reasons, businesses must select comfortable PPE that is also appropriate for the hazards an employee might encounter.

They should also work closely with employees to understand sizing options and other factors that ensure comfort, such as breathability and ventilation. The PPE’s materials should also be flexible, not rough or itchy, have proper moisture management, and adhere to other comfort requirements.


Make PPE Accessible

Businesses should always ensure workers have access to the PPE they need. For example, those working in an environment with sleek floors should have access to safety boots that are slip resistant, but that also offer protection from other hazards such as falling tools.

Businesses should also ensure that all PPE is always in good condition, well maintained, and replaced when expired or damaged. Failure to meet these requirements increases the likelihood of employees not seeing the need to wear it, thereby hurting compliance and putting them in danger.

The PPE should also be easy to put on and take off. This is especially important in industries where employers do this multiple times a day, such as in the pharmaceutical industry. If employees find it a chore to put on and take off their personal protective equipment, they are more likely to forgo it.
Provide Feedback and Recognition

Positive reinforcement can make a significant difference to PPE compliance levels. Managers and leaders should recognise employees who wear their PPE properly to reinforce the behaviour. They should also talk to those who do not so they can understand why they do not and explain why PPE is essential.

Wearing PPE properly can prevent serious injuries and even fatalities. Unfortunately, some workers do not wear their PPE, putting themselves in danger. Businesses can protect their workers by ensuring compliance using the tips discussed above.

Manufacturing: 5 Ways To Boost Safety At Your Factory

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article | Manufacturing: 5 Ways To Boost Safety At Your Factory

There is no denying that factory safety is crucial – whether you are running a textile business or a company that produces machinery in a factory.

The safety measures you put in place will depend on various factors, such as the nature of your business, the things you do, and the size of your premises.

That said, there are some ways to boost the safety of your industrial operation – irrespective of your business type. Whatever you manufacture, it’s worth knowing what you can do to improve your workplace safety.

Take a look at the following examples to give you some ideas and inspiration, as it’s likely you may not have implemented at least one of them at your premises:

1. Have A Robust Training Program

Did you know that one of the most common reasons for workplace accidents at manufacturing premises is due to inadequate training?

You are a responsible employer, and the safety of your workforce should be at the forefront of your mind. Therefore, you must ensure there is a robust training program in place for all employees to cover all aspects of safety and equipment operation related to their roles.

Moreover, you should block employees (such as new starters) from doing anything potentially dangerous until they’ve received the correct training for their jobs.

2. Periodically Upgrade Manufacturing Equipment

All equipment used in manufacturing processes will undeniably have a limited lifespan – irrespective of maintenance schedules.

There will come a time when the tools and equipment you use become obsolete or not fit for purpose, and it’s at those times you must upgrade them to new ones.

The frequency of planned upgrades will depend on the tools and equipment used, and the recommended upgrade paths from equipment manufacturers or industry experts.


3. Enforce PPE

PPE or Personal Protective Equipment is a must when working in a manufacturing environment – even if an employee’s role is merely to package newly produced goods.

Ensure that all employees have access to the PPE required for their roles and investigate processes where staff may need revised PPE for their work.

4. Have Thorough Regular Safety Checks

Regular safety checks of all manufacturing processes at your business must get conducted. Doing so will diminish the risk of accidents and injuries in the workplace and, of course, ensure optimal productivity.

If you feel such checks aren’t thorough enough, consider investing in some process safety training courses for key members of your workforce and create a robust safety check plan that everyone can follow with ease.

5. Ensure All Emergency Exits Are Clear

One final point to consider for your manufacturing business is to ensure that all emergency exits are clear at all times.

It might seem like an obvious statement to make, but some companies become complacent in this respect, and the results can be potentially devastating.

Ensure that all employees are aware of the importance of keeping emergency exits clear, and conduct checks of those exits several times each day for added peace of mind.

Vital Strategies To Improve Workplace Safety

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Are you prioritising workplace safety? There are so many reasons why you should be. After all, it is not only the ethical responsibility of those in charge but shows in an obvious way that you care about your employees, something that in turn can help to keep them motivated and loyal.

Additionally, by avoiding accidents and threats to safety before they have even begun, you can minimise additional risk to your business, including financial and public relations ones. To that end, take some time to learn how to improve your company’s workplace safety today. You’llYou’ll be glad you did.

Employee training

There is nothing better than comprehensive training for your workers if you want to improve safety in your business. Studies also show that well-trained employees ot only recognise and report potential risks much more frequently, but feel safer and more confident in the work they do as well.

With that in mind, thorough and up to date safety courses need to be completed by every worker. Be sure that they cover each aspect of their role, and provide additional outsourcing training for any heavy machinery or exceptionally high-risk situation such as working with chemical hazards.

Reward the behaviour you want to see

One of the most straightforward ways to encourage safer workplace behaviour is to reward it when you see it. Now, this does have to be done with care because giving out stickers and badges to adults isn’t going to work!

Instead, making the praise and rewards, you offer relevant for the people that it applies to is vital. For example, you could run a system of spot checks and give out raffle tickets to those displaying safe behaviour. Then over time, the team with the best safety record would collect the maximum amount of chances to win a prize. The prize itself needs to be worth the effort too, so a more significant bonus like a weekend away, or even extra time off paid often does the trick.

Signage is crucial

If you want your workplace to be as safe as possible, you mustn’t scrimp on the signage. It is always better to have more safety signage that you need. However, clarity is essential so you must make sure that information for people reading the sign you place in your workplace do not become overwhelming and therefore muddy the message.

Use occupational experts

What you may not realise is that there are a whole load of experts out there that can help you improve safety through your business. In particular, those specialising in occupational medicine will be able to tour your premises and find the areas that are most at risk of causing injury to your employees.

Physical therapists and health and safety experts can also help you work on and improve the ergonomics in your business. That is, setting things up in a way that doesn’t encourage injury or repetitive strain on any part of the human body. Something that can help you avoid longer-term injuries too.

Listen to your employees

Often it is workers on the front lines that notice issues with safety before anyone else. Unfortunately, unless action is taken at the management level, such problems can be left without improvement.

To that end, you must listen to your employees when it comes to safety and never dismiss their concerns. Where possible, instituting a formal process for reporting issues concerning safety is the best approach here. The reason is that it helps you to see where the main problems lie and also track what you are doing to rectify them.

Cleaning and organisation

A clean and organised workplace is one that is most likely to have fewer accidents and injuries. In fact, because of the current situation, proper cleaning and sanitisation are just about as vital as they have ever been.

The thing is that it is super tough to keep a business organised and clean without the correct infrastructure. That is you need space in which to store items quickly when you aren’t using them, as well as the right cleaning materials and training on how to use them. Even having a schedule of what needs to be cleaned in each area every day will help make sure that the correct standards are upheld.

Provide the right equipment

Have you tried to open a can with a knife rather than a can opener? If so you will know that not choosing equipment specially made for the task in hand can make that task instantly more risky and likely to end in injury or accident. Well, the same applies to your business, and that is why it is so essential to provide your employees with the right and well-maintained equipment at work.

Of course, this applies to the equipment and infrastructure that you install within your premises too. Fortunately, when it comes to safety, there are plenty of things you can use like this mini ball valve which provides a manual shutoff for a liquid or gas system, even in a small space. The latter being something which will give that extra level of safety for your employees.

Breaks are vital

When you are under pressure, it is easy to encourage your employees to work as fast, for as long as they can without a break. However, studies have shown that breaks are an essential part of maintaining safety because they help to keep workers more focused and give their body a rest from repetitive actions as well.

With that in mind, it is your duty as an employer to set regular break times and ensure that workers abide by and use these.

Include safety issues in your meetings

Another way that you can boost workplace safety is to make sure that it is an integrated part of the way you run your business. That means you talk about it in meetings, and remind people of any particular issue is daily briefings.

When your employees get used to talking and thinking about ways that safety can be improved as a regular part of their day, you will find that incidents and accidents decrease.