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Health and Safety is not something to be sniffed at. Every company, however large or small, MUST take their responsibility seriously. This is for both your sake and your employees' sakes, too. The top things to watch out for include: 1. In an office environment, make sure everyone has a comfortable working space and is sitting correctly. Bad posture at work is a key cause of back and spine issues, and is the easiest thing to put right. You need to ensure everyone is sitting correctly, with a fully adjustable chair, wrist support, and ensure that their VDU is elevated to the correct height to remove the need to stoop. 2. Trip hazards. This could happen anywhere, wires for computers could be tangled along the floor, or packing materials in a warehouse could cause someone to trip up. If someone falls, they could be out of work for weeks. This costs you money, as you need to continue to pay for the employee whilst they are off work. They may decide to sue your company for negligence, in which case you owe even more fees - it can be very costly! 3. Bad light and ventilation. You MUST ensure your employees have adequate light to work and work at a comfortable temperature. This includes access to fresh air. Light is a vital source of vitamin D, which has been proved to make people have a happy positive feeling. 4. Make sure your employees have enough breaks away from work. This is important, stress and overworking can get you into trouble as an employer. Some companies decide that managing health and safety themselves can be too taxing and so outsource this area of their business to HSE Companies. These companies have fully trained and experienced H & S Consultants who are able to visit your place of work, identify any outstanding areas and keep relevant records about the company to comply with legal regulations. One Health and Safety company said, "We find that more companies, especially SMEs, need our help with managing their health and safety, including conducting health and safety audits and conducting regular site visits to ensure all is as it should be. We find this is also good for staff morale, who know that their employer is valuing their staff and wanting to generate a comfortable working environment for all. This is so important for legal reasons too, if you hire any number of staff, from 1 to 100, you need to be sure of your responsibility and take this seriously. It is not a time to skirt over the issues, face them head on and you will not get yourself into any kind of trouble in the future." Health and safety is a fundamental part of everyday business and home life, unfortunately its one of those things that people usually only think about when there is a problem. To avoid the worst its best to have at minimum a yearly health and safety risk assessment. In many instances seeking the help of a HR outsourcing firm will provide a cost effect way to manage Health and safety and human resources issues that SME business owners don't have the experience to deal with.
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