Understanding Health and Safety in the Workplace

A work environment that is health and safety focused is what every business should be aiming for. Before a company can create safe environments they must first identify things or situations that could be problems. This is a called risk assessment. Once risks have been identified, finding ways to minimize the risks and make people aware that there is a potential for danger is the next step.

Making sure that the workplace is free of hazards is not just something companies do because they want to be nice. There are many federal regulation in place that companies have to adhere to. There are punishments for not following these regulations.

It is not the intent of these regulations to stifle the production of a business. Risk management doesn't have to be a huge undertaking that results in copious amounts of paperwork. It's really all about common sense. Having a risk-free work place is just not a possibility and no one, not even the regulators, expect that. Minimization of hazards and action when risks become apparent is the goal.

Surveying the workplace is the first thing that should happen when risk assessment begins. The purpose of the walkthrough is to spot anything that could injure someone. Every possible risk should be written down as well as how much of risk it is.

When making a risk assessment through environmental compliance services, you also have to visualize potential risks as all of them are not as obvious as a puddle on the floor. Blind corners are a perfect example of something you usually don't realize until it's too late. Blind corners can cause serious accidents when vehicles are being operated.

Health risk should also be addressed with the help of Clym Environmental Services LLC. Assessing worker's routines to see if there is potential injury there is also a part of risk assessment. Carpal tunnel is a very common work injury that affects people in many types of fields. Carpal tunnel is an injury to the hands and wrist from repetitive movements.  Factory workers and secretaries alike have issues with this problem. Ergonomics which is the study of equipment design and how it affects the body is an emerging study due to all the injuries related to repetitive movements. Making a work environment ergonomically friendly is an prime example of the health in health and safety management.

Even though some companies only focus on preventing accidents, health and safety is very broad and includes many things. During flu season, many employers pass out information about how to curb the spread of infections. That too is under the umbrella of health and safety.