Ensuring that your office is a safe and secure place to work is important – not only will your staff feel more comfortable, but you can feel more relaxed knowing everything is in order. Health and safety covers everything from a spilled drink to a filing cabinet containing confidential information being left unsecured, so rules and regulations have to be set to ensure everyone is following the right procedure.
Here are some top tips to make your office space a health and safety haven:
Slips, trips and falls
Spilled drinks, loose wires and scattered bags and coats could each cause you or employees to slip or trip over and run the risk of serious injury. To ensure your office is safe, set out guidelines which everyone must follow. Make sure that your office has plenty of tissue to clear up any spillages and that all loose wires are tied up. Place coat stands around the office and encourage staff to use these, and to place their bags under their desk, away from the public walkways where people may trip.
If your office is being cleaned, ensure the correct signage is used so that everyone is aware of the potential danger of a wet floor. You could also make sure everything is correctly labelled in your office to avoid any potential mishaps or injuries.
Fire safety
Fire safety is extremely important in an office environment. Fire risk assessments of the property must be carried out on a regular[1] basis, and staff need to be made aware of any risks which have been identified. Appropriate safety measures need to be put in place, and staff should be provided with both instructions and training, in case of an emergency.
Keeping confidentiality confidential
When it comes to protecting both yours and your employees’ work, ensure you have lockable storage where private information can be kept. You may need to have a few different cabinets – for example, Finance, Human Resources and Operations should all have their own, ensuring there is no cross over. Set out rules, such as locking the cabinet once done using it, to ensure the private information is reserved only for those who need to see it.
Theft in the workplace
Theft can happen in an office, whether it’s people taking stationery or someone attempting to access files they shouldn’t be on your database. One of the best ways to keep your office safe and secure is to be aware of everyone that comes in and out of the office[2]. If you don’t recognise someone, introduce yourself and ask them if you can help – and make sure that staff carry their ID badges with them at all times.
When it comes to computers, you should set up a system where everyone must change their password after a certain period of time – it may be annoying but it will go a long way in keeping your databases safe. Set out guidelines which mean everyone must include capital letters, numbers and punctuation in their passwords, and look into getting a password-encrypted system, again to protect your employees and your own work.
There are many considerations which go into each area of workplace health and safety, so appropriate action must be taken in all sectors. Find out about what you need to be aware of[3], and how you can implement the right measures so all members of staff are comfortable and feel safe.
