It is essential to implement health and safety control measures to minimize risks, such as potential hazards, and worker illnesses and injuries, in the workplace. These measures include providing personal protective equipment to the workers, or adding safety guards to potentially hazardous machinery and equipment.
Health and Safety Control Measures
Health and safety control measures include not only safety gear but also safety policies and procedures, clear training and instructions, and equipment inspection and maintenance.
The type of measures needed for a workplace or company depend on the type and size of the business. Let’s have a look at some of the important methods to identify and reduce the health and safety hazards in the workplace.
Eliminate the unnecessary
The first line of defense against workplace risks and hazards should be to eliminate them. For example, some hazards can be eliminated by –
- outsourcing the work
- discontinuing the usage of hazardous and unnecessary equipment or procedures
Train your personnel
Proper training can enable employees and supervisors to understand safety procedures, operate equipment correctly, and work safely. Adequately trained employees can also identify and report potential hazards, preventing accidents and injuries.
Look for alternatives
For processes that are potentially risky but can’t be eliminated, check if you can substitute them with processes that pose fewer risks, for example, safer alternatives to outdated or dangerous tools or chemicals.
Rules
Whether you laying the guidelines for proper handling of equipment, ensuring a safe work environment, or setting employee performance and behavior standards, rules can help you determine the right policies and procedures. Once you have them, ensure that they are clear and communicated, from comprehensive training to posting the rules near a machinery or in the breakroom.
Protective equipment
Protective and safety clothing and equipment should be provided to workers to protect them from injury or illness. This may include helmets, safety glasses, gloves, respirators, harnesses, etc.
If you’re not sure where to start, you could consult OSHA’s guidelines on the hazard-identification process and determine the methods that are most important to your industry.
Next, evaluate the risks you identify. Address the most serious potential risks first. Then develop and finally implement the most appropriate health and safety control measures. This will help you determine, reduce, and even eliminate many of these potential dangers that may be lurking in your workplace.
If you are looking for SCBA Escape Pack, chemical paper disposable suit, or calibration gas suppliers in Houston, TX, talk to Green Light Safety at 832-262-9931 right away. With over 15 years’ experience in this industry, Green Light Safety specializes in rentals, sales and service of Gas Detection equipment as well as calibration of the equipment.