Photo by CC user tonythemisfit on Flickr

Businesses like ski lodges and logging companies are notably lucrative, yet running them makes one thing apparent – it’s riddled with safety risks. Based on health and safety statistics recorded, injuries, accidents and deaths happen more often than you might think. Thus, at every corner lurks a future employee injury claim or, worse, a lawsuit filed against your business. It has been proven that reducing the risk of injury at work can save your company money. And while it’s not completely possible to avoid risk, you can minimise the odds with these five simple steps.

Proactively Identify Potential Risks

Identifying potential risks isn’t a one-off activity you only do at the business’ conception. You have to regularly inspect your workplace as well as employee procedures for getting tasks done. A long-haul trucking business, for example, should regularly look at the routes their drivers take. Is it the most efficient route, or can you take new ones that save on gas and are generally safer for your drivers?

Collaborate With Your Employees

Effective workplace risk reduction requires the involvement of the entire organization, not just the management. Once you’ve identified the potential risks befalling your employees, collaborate with them to form plans that detail specific steps to reduce the identified risks. Regularly check all equipment and tools to ensure that they are well maintained and safe to use. It’s always worth reviewing your safe work procedures with your employees. Do they know how to lift heavy goods? Do they know where the fire exits are? These are simple but important considerations.

Get Insurance Protection

Regardless of how careful you are, there will be accidents in the workplace. During times of organizational distress, you’d want to be protected financially. This is where a public liability insurance policy like this one comes in handy. Most business owners neglect public liability coverage since it isn’t something you are legally required to have, but as an insurance product, it’s definitely worth every penny you pay.

Train Your Employees

Safety training instills the proper precautionary measures and correct responses to different scenarios. Mandating safety training program to both existing and new employees reduces human error, which is a big factor to workplace accidents. While in-house safety training programs are common, you can also hire a third-party contractor to facilitate the safety training program for you.

Don’t Overwork Your Employees

Risky jobs become even riskier when the people working on them are unfit to work. Overworking your employees can drain them physically and mentally to the point that they are no longer capable of making sound decisions. Ultimately, they make an error and an accident transpires. You can be prosecuted by the court if you are found guilty of neglecting your employee’s health.

Welcome Feedback

Where better to collect data about potential workplace risks than from people who regularly work within the environment. Encourage your employees to leave feedback relevant to safety concerns and ideas for improvement. When your employees feel confident of telling you safety issues and workplace hazards, you are able to get on top of things before it develops into a bigger, more expensive problem for your business.

Business owners managing risky ventures can use these guidelines to create a workplace environment that fosters not only employee safety but also optimal productivity. Your employees are the brainpower of your company. Protecting them not only protects you financially but also protects you intellectually.