Did you know that the total cost of work injuries was over $170 billion in 2019 alone? A hazardous work environment is not only bad for your employees but can be incredibly costly for you as a small business owner as well. 

Because of this, one of the best things you can do to protect yourself and your company is to cultivate a safe work environment. How do you do this? Well, it’s not as difficult as you might expect!

To learn some simple ways to improve your workplace safety, just keep reading.

Ensure Proper Training

One of the worst mistakes you can make is to assume that everyone who works for you understands workplace safety inherently. Comprehensive training for every employee is a must, regardless of position.

Even after the initial training is complete, ensure that all employees have access to training materials if needed.

Reward Safe Behavior

Part of business ownership is creating consequences for negative behavior within your company. However, you shouldn’t rely solely on punishment. A good business owner knows that positive reinforcement will take you much further.

When you notice an employee practice proper workplace safety, reward them! This does far more to promote following safety policies.

Using positive reinforcement will also help keep your employees happy and make them feel appreciated, which can cut down on your turnover rate. To learn more about reducing employee turnover, take a look at www.payactiv.com.

Keep Your Business Clean

When you’re creating a safety plan with your HR department, you have a huge amount of factors to consider. This makes it easy to overlook the small things, but something as simple as keeping your business clean can make all the difference.

Boxes, cords, and other equipment left haphazardly around the office is asking for an injury to take place. Reduce clutter and keep things as organized and neat as possible.

If you can’t afford to hire a cleaning crew, you should take it upon yourself to ensure that, at the very least, the floors are kept clean and free of potential hazards.

Provide Updates on Workplace Safety

Again, you can’t expect to have one meeting on workplace safety, call it a day, and have no workplace injuries. There’s no need for a daily lecture, but having regular meetings to review the rules and discuss prevention can be a life-saver.

If you notice a recurring issue with your workplace safety, don’t be afraid to bring it up with your team. No one looks forward to safety meetings, but keeping safety at the forefront of everyone’s minds is more effective than you might think.

Providing yourself and your employees with a safe work environment is beneficial to everyone. It keeps your employees safe and happy and prevents unnecessary strain on your reputation and bank account.

Make an effort every day to keep your business clean and hazard-free and you’ll find it’s much easier to build success!

Looking for more tips for taking your business to the next level? Be sure to check out our blog!