No matter if you work in the trades, in a warehouse or a laboratory, workplace safety is an important topic you can’t afford to ignore. Staying safe at work allows you to earn a living and enjoy your time outside of work.
When you suffer an injury, you lose your primary source of income and your ability to enjoy life is dependent on the severity of your injury. Use these six tips to help you stay safe at work!
1. Make Sure You Understand Your Equipment
Safety equipment isn’t beneficial if you don’t understand how to use it. A lot of injuries occur due to the misuse of equipment and tools in the work environment. If you feel uneasy using any of the equipment at work, reach out to your supervisors. Certain tasks need to be limited to people who have the appropriate experience with the equipment. Getting familiar with your safety equipment will help you avoid worst case scenarios.
2. Take Regular Breaks
Although your boss may disagree, working too hard isn’t good for you. Whether you’re standing or sitting all day, you need to take a break to avoid burnouts. If you can, try and schedule the most important tasks for first thing in the morning when you’re most alert. Taking regular breaks will help you avoid overloading your body and reset your concentration for challenging tasks.
Stretching is also a good idea during your breaks. If you sit lots, your hamstrings are going to be tight. If you lift heavy items regularly, it’s important to stretch to protect your back. Stretching will make lifting with your legs much easier.
3. Know Your Rights
If something doesn’t seem safe, you owe it to yourself and to your family to speak up. Unsafe conditions need to be dealt with immediately. Don’t let yourself feel pressured into doing the job anyway if things look unsafe. Something as basic as a damaged air conditioner can make the temperature too hot to work safely. If dangerous conditions persist even after you alert your supervisor, you may need to contact an outside authority such as a knowledgeable accident lawyer.
4. Take Training Seriously
Training may seem like a time to relax because you’re not “doing anything,” however, it’s one of the more important parts of workplace safety. It’s hard to make regulations and work standards entertaining, but that doesn’t make them any less important. Getting familiar with how your company handles certain tasks, what to do in certain situations and how to help others are all important things that you’ll learn in training.
5. Get Familiar With What To Do In Emergencies
Another reason to take training seriously is so you know what to do in an emergency. Emergency training is especially important if you’re working with chemicals. You should know how to ventilate a room, where the eyewash stations are and who to contact in case of an accident. It’s also good to get familiar with the emergency exits in the building.
6. Reach Out To Your Supervisors With Your Concerns
Feedback is one really useful piece of information that you can offer your employer. It’s hard for the management staff to stay on top of every risk and hazard that develops. As the person who’s on the front lines, it’s important to bring your concerns to them and give them the opportunity to fix mistakes.
Don’t feel nervous when bringing a concern to your supervisor. Your goal is to help make things safer for the entire staff. Your employers are obligated to create a safe work environment, and it makes their job easier when they have employees who speak up.
