With safety equipment and measures in place, such as NDT testing for various sectors, there’s no excuse for a business to fail safety and security tests. This can only mean blatant disregard for the rules and regulations in place, if and when they do. If you want to check how your company fares in this area, there are specific steps you can take.
Identify Safety Risks
Know where the issues hide, and find appropriate solutions.
- Schedule a thorough inspection to identify areas of potential hazards, from the premises to business operations.
- Gather pertinent data, starting with the cause, the whys, and hows. There’s also a reason why something is happening.
- Check if safety audits are in place and scheduled accordingly. Otherwise, start one and ensure high-risk areas are closely monitored.
- Implement safety measures and protocols once hazards are identified. Make sure they’re enforced strictly to prevent any problems that can lead to expensive lawsuits.
Appoint a Safety Officer
Someone needs to oversee that all safety measures are carried out and followed accordingly.
- Appoint a team member whose primary task is to manage all activities related to health and safety.
- Depending on the size of your company, the appointee can be an existing employee or a third-party firm specialising in safety and compliance.
Create a Safety Policy
If you don’t have one yet, make sure you have a safety handbook whose content is well-disseminated.
- Have your safety office draft a policy designed to mitigate or prevent any potential risks and protect workers’ legal rights.
- Using data collected from your risk assessment, have them develop strategically focused solutions. They can also interview some of your employees to check for potential hazards they may personally experience, but not everyone sees.
- Your safety policy doesn’t have to be long or complicated, but it should have detailed information on who’s responsible for certain activities, the process involved, and when they should be completed.
- Make sure employees are familiar with the safety policies, which reflect your commitment to safety and security.
Promote Training & Compliance
Knowing is just the beginning. Each employee must know what to do in certain scenarios or any eventualities.
- Carry out ongoing training to maintain a safe work environment for everyone. Double the efforts after certain changes are implemented or new equipment is installed.
- Take advantage of government-led free safety training when provided.
- Make sure everyone knows industry regulations and stays updated as changes come in.
- Schedule a refresher for safety compliance and provide certificates for those who participated for easy tracking.
Have an Evacuation or Shutdown Plan in Place
When dealing with toxic materials, for example, a small incident can have a huge impact.
- Make sure you have strategies in place to mitigate risks of contamination or damage.
- If toxic fumes come out as a result, how can you contain the spread within just a small area and prevent the problem from becoming a public safety concern? How can you protect your employees from them?
- Create a checklist for when it’s necessary to shut down the entire operation or to stick with a skeletal workforce.
With all the risks considered and appropriate solutions provided, you can run your business with peace of mind. Your employees can work confidently, knowing they’re protected from all possible hazards. Should you need assistance for non-destructive testing, NDT Thai is your trusted service provider.
