Accident Prevention Within the Workplace - By: Dylan Pugh

Accident prevention within the workplace is a major priority as any accidents that do take place are bad news both for the person who has been injured and for the employer. It is essential to take every necessary step possible in order to ensure that your employees are aware of the dangers that can befall them but that they also know what they can do to prevent them from occurring in the first place. If you are an employee on the other hand, you have the right to be made aware of any dangers within your workplace and know how to avoid causing yourself an injury.

The most common accidents that can occur within a workplace happen when a person slips, trips or falls; these are responsible for over half of the injuries than occur within the workplace every year. Picture your working environment in your head now; can you think of any trailing cables that may be lying across the floor? Does the floor have any sections of carpet that are sticking up? These two examples can both cause a person to trip and you can bet that there are many more hazards just like this within your workplace that may look innocent enough, but could cause serious damage. The irony is that these types of accidents are arguably the easiest to prevent by taking simple, yet effective, precautions.

Most dangers can be prevented by simply reassessing your working environment, highlighting the potential dangers and finding solutions to reduce the threats. For instance, a floor cable cover protector could be used to reduce the risk of injury and the protruding piece of carpet could be stuck back down.

However, several dangers remain constant such as utilising certain machines within a factory for instance. For these types of hazards, it is important to ensure that everyone, employers and employees alike, is made aware of the potential dangers so that they can avoid these at all costs.

Various health and safety training courses are available for those looking to gain that extra knowledge about accident prevention. Because of the fact that slip, trip and fall accidents are so common, there are courses available that focus entirely on this subject.

Unsurprisingly, almost a third of all serious fall injuries involve ladders. Whilst that may appear quite obvious, there are potential hazards in the workplace involving falls that may not be quite as clear. An everyday act such as walking down a flight of stairs may seem innocent enough, but even this can turn dangerous if a person was to fall and sustain an injury. By ensuring that the correct type of ladder is being used or fitting a handrail on the stairs, you can help to prevent accidents such as these from taking place. A falls prevention training programme can help you to identify areas within your workplace that you may not normally think to be dangerous, show you how they are in fact a potential threat and teach you ways to reduce the risk of falls.

By simply attending a health and safety training course, you can help to prevent yourself and others from suffering an injury. As an employee, you will gain awareness and can prevent yourself and others from suffering severe pain. As an employer, you will be protecting yourself against any disciplinary actions that may have taken place if an injury were to occur as a result of ignorance, but also ensuring that your employees are working within a safe environment.

About the Author

The Interactive Health and Safety Company provides a range of interactive training programmes that combine learning with having fun simultaneously. Their team has extensive knowledge and experience in the field and together, they have been producing videos, DVDs and training programme for different sectors (including education) since 1993.

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