How do you ensure you are providing a safe work environment?

Follow our practical guide to ensure that the work environment you are providing is a healthy and safe workspace where team members can focus on working productively towards your organisational goals. To create a culture that truly thrives, it’s vital to know how to create a healthy and open environment with workplace safety firmly embedded in everything you do. October is National Safe Work month with a different topic of focus each week on an aspect of safety at work:

•          Injuries at work,

•          Mental health,

•          Managing WHS risks and preventing harm,

•          Safe and healthy work for all.

This is an opportune time to check your current WHS polices and processes that cover both the physical and psychological well-being of staff and our practical step-by-step guide will show you how to get started.

Benefits

Employee wellbeing is key to the efficient and effective operation of businesses. Optimising wellbeing will improve the worker experience and lead to happy, healthy and productive workplaces.

Recently there have been significant changes to the way in which we work and this has resulted in work-related stress and mental health symptoms. Also due to the challenges presented by the pandemic, an increase of remote work, digitisation and the introduction of new technologies and processes has added to that stress. It is important that we focus on improving working conditions through our leadership practices, improved methods and tools. Key work health and safety statistics, Australia 2021

What should you be doing as an employer to ensure you are providing the best support for your staff?

The checklist below is a starter list and covers the more general aspects of work health, safety and well-being. The policies and procedures that an organisation will adopt will depend on the nature and size of the business, while others may relate to specific activities of the business. Request CER’s WHS Management System Guidelines here.

Work Health and Safety Checklist     

It’s also important to foster an environment in which employees feel they can talk about work without judgement.  Encourage staff to be open if they are having issues with workload or deadlines, or are unclear about a project or their role. Being able to talk about work stresses and pressures can often go a long way to alleviating them.  It’s also important to provide avenues for staff to share ideas and feedback.  Not only does it make them feel included, but you might find excellent new suggestions and solutions.

Summary

A workplace health and safety management system is constantly evolving and improving and provides for more informed decision making. It strengthens organisational culture and also demonstrates due diligence. When developing your policies and procedures it is important to consult with and engage your staff. Effective consultation encourages greater awareness of issues and can lead to an improved safety culture and outcomes. Your employees will understand the importance of policies and procedures and why they need to be implemented – they will also be realistic and actionable.

Well designed policies and procedures help organisations comply with work health and safety legislation and regulations and are regularly reviewed. So take the time to review your current procedures and make any necessary adjustments to keep them up to date.

Contact us if you need support or help with your Work Health and Safety (WHS) policies. CER has developed WHS guidelines and policy templates that can be adapted and customised for your organisation.