Five Ways To Improve Workplace Health And Safety

Whether you’re trying to make your manufacturing facility safer or undergoing some construction work at your business, health and safety must always be considered a priority. 

After all, as an employer, you have a duty of care over your team, which means you must: 

• Provide a safe place of work.
• Provide a safe system of work.
• Provide adequate plant and equipment.
• Recruit competent and safety-conscious staff. 

Beyond your legal obligations, failing to uphold health and safety standards also puts your team and customers at risk. 

With that in mind, here are __ ways to improve workplace health and safety.

Use the right tools.

One of the easiest ways to manage health and safety in your workplace is to use the right tools for the job. For example, if you are working at height or on a construction process, you should look into Access tool hire. This is cheaper than having to purchase the equipment outright but still ensures the safety of your team. 

Offer on-site health and safety training. 

Most people are aware of the basics of health and safety in the workplace, but it’s important that you take the time to share this knowledge with each and every employee. For example, health and safety training should be part of your onboarding process, especially if they will be using or operating any hazardous equipment or tools. Beyond this, you should ensure that additional training is offered each time you introduce new equipment.

Don’t forget about signage.

Installing health and safety signage throughout your workplace can also ensure that stringent health and safety standards are maintained. For example, it could remind users how to use specific tools or equipment or to wear PPE when doing so. This can also be used to mark out employee-only areas so that unauthorised personnel or customers do not walk into hazardous environments by accident. 

Invest in PPE.

Ensuring that your team wears the appropriate PPE can also help to keep them safe at work and is once again a legal requirement within many industries. As such, it should be considered part of their uniform, meaning it’s something that you, the employer, ought to provide. PPE could include: 

• Noise-blocking headphones or earplugs 
• Face Masks 
• High-Vis Clothing
• Gloves
• Helmets
• Steel-toed Shoes

Carry out Regular Risk Assessments.

Conducting regular risk assessments can also be useful when it comes to improving health and safety policies within the workplace. This is because it can draw your attention to potential hazards which, if unresolved, could lead to a disaster within the workplace. Not only this but identifying ineffective practices could also help to improve the profitability of your business by making it more effective. 

To carry out a risk assessment, you must thoroughly inspect your workplace for any hazards, such as trailing wires or faulty smoke alarms. You should also write down a list of things that could go wrong, alongside the steps you are taking to avoid this kind of incident. The more thorough and detailed you are when completing this task, the better.

Using Outsourcing To Improve Your Business

Outsourcing, you know what it is, but you might not know how best to apply it within the realms of your business. Surveys suggest that 83% of companies, both large and SMEs, will maintain or increase their spending on outsourcing services, and over a third of UK businesses outsource at least one aspect of their business.

Outsourcing works best when you bring in third parties or take over aspects of running a business you don’t have the time to complete; it is outside your area of expertise you can’t afford to run in-house. By identifying these areas, you can make more informed decisions on the best services to partner with to help you improve standards and get the results you need.

So it goes without saying that outsourcing can have massive benefits, especially for finance, healthcare and insurance sectors, which are also more likely to outsource than other types of business.

Done correctly, outsourcing can offer the following benefits.

Improved Productivity

You need to be productive as a business. That’s a given, but by taking on too many tasks, not having enough employees or being stretched too thin, you can impact your level of productivity and negate everything you are working towards. By outsourcing to take over time-consuming tasks and the tasks you find you cannot do yourself, you can focus on other areas and get things done without being sidelined by repetitive or labour-intensive tasks.

Lower Costs

Outsourcing costs can vary depending on the services you require, the work needed, and the skill level involved in the work to be done. However, when levied against the cost of bringing in employees and training them, their monthly outlay isn’t as steep as paying wages, insurance premiums, training, etc. So whether you need paraplanning support, bookkeeping or social media marketing services, for example, you can save time and money by outsourcing.

Skills and Expertise

Collectively, companies offering outsourcing services will have a wealth of skills among their employees who are expertly trained and qualified in their area of expertise. To find this level of training and knowledge and bring them on board in-house with your company, it can be costly not only to find the right employee but to retain their services, too. You can remove all the time and cost from finding people with the talents you need by paying a monthly retainer to provide these services by a third-party company. Be it customer service representatives, cyber security experts, IT system maintenance, or anything that requires specific training and skills.

Equipment

Generally speaking, outsourcing companies will have the best equipment, software and tools for the trade. This allows them to do what they do easily and offer you the best service possible for your money. As with hiring employees, buying this equipment and installing it to operate as needed can be costly. This way, you get the best of both worlds and benefit from state-of-the-art technology and equipment without footing the bill. This will allow you to elevate what you do and level the playing field with bigger, more established competitors.

Outsourcing has its place within the business sector and will do so as long as people need to use their services. These days, there are many different services you can use to help you run your business better, and finding ones that work for you to enhance what you do can be a great source of support in many different ways.

Navigating Spammy Waters: Protecting Company Emails From Being Dumped…

Spam: an unsolicited email filled with unwanted material – either physical or virtual. In an ocean of electronic correspondences, spam acts like debris that gets in the way of communicating important matters.

What’s In a Spam?

Spam in email terms refers to any unsolicited junk mail sent in bulk – much like that pesky neighbor who shows up at every barbecue and takes away all your hotdogs! But instead of nibbling away at all your hot dogs, spam tries to sell fake Ray-Bans or false promises of lottery wins you never entered for.

Fishing for Legitimacy: Ensuring Your Emails Don’t Smell Fishy

How can your company’s emails avoid coming across as suspiciously-sourced canned meat products?

Be Personal, Not a Robot

To start off right, be human! Although this seems obvious, businesses sometimes forget this key point when writing emails to their customers or prospects. Nobody likes receiving something that reads like it was generated by a cold machine; therefore it is wiser to speak in conversational tones rather than using corporate jargon. Speak like you would speak in person by using first names when possible and signing off using your name, rather than generic phrases such as “Dear User” or “Valued Customer.” Remember: the more humanized your emails appear, the less likely it is that spam filters catch it and filters it further!

Don’t be the Boy Who Cried ‘URGENT!’

In today’s bustling digital marketplace, it can be tempting to want your emails to stand out with exclamations of “URGENT!” or “IMPORTANT!” but too often can turn you into the boy who cried wolf – overusing these terms can become annoying for recipients or worse still trigger spam filters – save urgency for when truly needed and avoid all caps/multiple exclamation points unless your hair is actually on fire – then consider your options wisely before hitting this button. The takeaway message here should be simple: use ‘URGENT!’ sparingly but wisely.

Balance Between Text and Image: Walking the Tightrope

Ah, the eternal debate over text vs image! Before bombarding our emails with flashy images and graphics, let’s slow things down a bit by keeping our texts concise while being mindful about adding flashy imagery or graphics that overwhelm readers. While a picture may speak volumes, an email chock-full of images could scream “SPAM” louder than any hawker at a fish market. Conversely, texts-heavy emails could send your recipients dozing off faster than any lecture on paint drying! Achieving balance when creating a message through images can be tricky, yet images should not dominate text; strive for a healthy balance between both elements in your presentation. Not only will this make your emails more engaging, it will also help avoid those pesky spam filters which treat overly graphic emails like yesterday’s tabloid news. Be sure to always include alt text for images; this ensures that even if they fail to load, recipients still understand your message – plus it contributes towards accessibility! So walk carefully along this balance between text and image; no one wants a trip into spam-land!

Conclusion: Navigating the Inbox Sea

We have just finished exploring the murky waters of spam and offering some lifebuoys to ensure your company emails don’t end up sinking to the depths of a junk folder. Personalization, moderation and balance should help your emails make their way safely into recipients’ inboxes rather than sinking to junk mail depths – plus no one’s getting sick on this voyage!