According to data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 2.8 million nonfatal injuries and illnesses in workplaces across the country back in 2019. Meanwhile, the same agency reported 5,333 fatal injuries in worksites all over the United States during the same year, which was a 2 percent rise from 2018’s 5,250 deadly workplace injuries. These shocking data only underscores just how hazardous workplaces can be, and why it’s critical to take proactive steps in preventing workplace injuries at all cost.
Here are five simple tricks to avoid workplace injuries that could lead to a tort-related case:
Discourage risky actions and encourage safe work behavior
Many of the injuries that occur at workplaces are perfectly preventable, but they do happen anyway due to the risky actions of workers themselves. These include exerting unnecessary efforts or forgetting to wear proper PPE that places them at risk of getting injured. You can easily avert such a problem by discouraging employees from doing risky actions and encouraging them to become mindful of safety protocols in place. This simple shift in policy will go a long way in changing workers’ mindsets and preventing workplace injuries, both fatal and nonfatal.
Draft, test, implement, review, and revise workplace safety protocols
No workplace or business should exist without a clear set of safety protocols that have been tested and implemented. Aside from just drafting and testing these protocols, you must also review them, especially following an injury at work. If necessary, the safety protocols have to be revised based on the loopholes discovered which resulted in an injury and then re-tested and re-implemented to complete the process.
Remove clutter and similar hazards
Workplace injuries often happen due to clutter and other hazards in work areas that cause employees to slip, trip, or fall. Unless you want to come face to face with an employee’s spinal cord injury lawyer as a result of your failure to clear your worksites of such hazards (or order someone to do it for you), this is one necessary step that you must take ASAP. Remember that any business lawsuit that stemmed out of your failure to carry out very basic workplace safety procedures will affect not only your business’ reputation but your financial situation as well since tort cases could lead to huge damages and settlements.
Post workplace safety reminders and signage
Sometimes, all it takes to make everyone in your workplace mindful of their safety is to install safety reminders in strategic areas. This signage would not sot you a fortune but could save you from potential tort-related lawsuits that could bring down your whole business. That is not something that you’d want and not something that you’re powerless to prevent from happening in the first place.
Issue personal protective equipment
Among the most basic and simplest tricks to prevent debilitating or fatal workplace injuries is by issuing industry-standard personal protective equipment (PPE) to workers. These pieces of equipment help minimize and, on many occasions, totally prevent serious workplace injuries.
If your business deals with hazardous materials, heavy equipment, or working on heights, then giving your workers appropriate and adequate PPEs is not only legally required but is the most sensible and humane thing to do to protect your workers. Keep in mind that prevention is always better than cure and issuing PPE to workers performing risky jobs is a great example of workplace injury prevention.
Workplace injuries cannot be avoided, but they can be prevented to a great deal if you know what to do. With these five tricks, you can make your workplace several times safer and spare yourself the hassle of dealing with a bitter and costly tort case.