What bosses need to know about workplace safety

By

Ministry of Health

Why it is so important

Workers spend a lot of time at the workplace and are exposed to various dangers from their surroundings. An unsafe workplace can cause workplace-related accidents/illnesses that can harm workers and their families from a social and financial standpoint.

What are the benefits of having a safe workplace?
- Protect your most important assets - the workers.
- Increase productivity.
- Reduce workplace accidents and illnesses.
- Decrease workers' insurance claims.
- Reduce medical costs.
- Raise workers' morale.

What are the strategies for creating a safe workplace?
Safe surroundings:
- Make sure that the workplace is always neat.
- Ensure that walkways are not blocked.
- Mark out in yellow lines the way to emergency exits.
- Use flooring materials that are not slippery.
- Clean all spills on the floor immediately.
- Ensure good and effective air circulation in order to maintain comfortable room temperature.
- Ensure that lighting is sufficient.
- Store areas should be organised neatly and all items should be labeled. Avoid keeping chemicals/insecticides together with food/drinks.
- Place health and safety warning signs wherever needed, such as "no smoking", "emergency exits", etc.
- Equipment, machinery and chairs should be ergonomically designed and comfortable to use.
- Provide facilities such as toilets, washrooms, changing rooms, rest areas, etc.

Fire safety:
- Install fire extinguishers and make sure they are checked regularly.
- Mark out areas that workers should gather at during emergencies.
- Display the emergency evacuation plan in an area where all workers will see it.
- Carry out fire drills.

Use chemicals safely
- Replace dangerous chemicals with safer chemicals if possible.
- Label all chemical containers.
- Keep Material Data Sheets (MSDS) for reference.

Use recommended safety equipment such as helmets, masks, gloves, safety goggles, etc.
Make available emergency eyewash solutions and bathrooms.

Use electricity safely
- Never use too many electrical connections that go over your power limit.
- Do not use faulty electrical cords - label warnings for all to know.
- Never try fixing faulty electrical equipment on your own - such work must be done by a qualified person/expert.

Use equipment safely
- Provide workers with training on how to use workplace machines safely.
- Failsafe devices must be built into work machines that carry a high risk of causing accidents.
- Avoid doing repairs, modifications or maintenance on a machine without proper clearance.
- Use suitable safety equipment as needed.

Use safety equipment correctly
- If possible, remove potential sources of workplace danger - safety equipment should only be used as back-up in the event of an emergency.
- Always use safety equipment suitable for the task and strongly promote its usage.
- Safety equipment must be maintained always - replace defective safety equipment immediately.

- Ministry of Health Public Awareness Programme

Source: Weekend, 5 July 2008