6 Steps To Develop a Health and Safety Strategy

Safety management has been a vital part of workplaces for years. However, did you know a well-maintained health and safety strategy can boost productivity and protect your brand reputation? Not that we need more motivation to provide a safe workplace; health and how we manage it is uppermost in all our minds as we learn to live with Covid-19.

According to a 2019-20 survey, around 1.6 million people in the UK suffered from work-related health issues. Therefore, businesses should consider developing a full-proof health and safety strategy.

Along with the evident benefits, a robust health and safety strategy can protect the reputation of your business.

Importantly, implementing such a system isn’t a daunting task. You can create a fool-proof health and safety strategy for your workplace with the proper steps. This article will outline the basic steps that can help every responsible workplace.

Step 1: Build Up a Safety Plan

The first step towards developing an employer’s health and safety strategy should be an in-depth assessment.
You should develop a plan to improve the employees’ health and safety. This plan should take into account the following factors:

• The nature of your business
• Potential hazards
• The number of employees
• Safety requirements

After proper assessment, talk with your employees. It is vital to consider their suggestions when formulating a health and safety plan. This plan is crucial to safeguard your employees in case of emergencies. A business should be aware of potential hazards before consulting with experts.

Step 2: Talk to Expert Consultants

After developing your basic safety plan, it’s time to get recommendations from health and safety experts. Companies or professionals equipped with HSE (Health, Safety, and Environment) training can prove vital in helping your business do the following:

• Monitor your workplace
• Modify your safety plan
• Develop safety strategies
• Cover the health needs of all employees

Developing the right strategy and plan is the roadmap for customers’ confidence in your brand and staff feeling safe at work. Large organisations usually contact consultants, whereas smaller businesses try the do-it-yourself approach due to cost constraints. However, allocating a budget for advice on health and safety is no longer nice, as Covid-19 has taught us proper workplace hygiene is paramount for keeping staff well.

Organisations that excel in HSE management can expect workers to be less distracted and more productive.

Step 3: Establish a Clear Safety Vision and Mission

With the help of an HSE management agency, your business can form a safety planning committee. The goal for your health, safety and environment group is to define a vision and a mission statement that resonates with your clients, staff, suppliers, partners and advocates. Remember, the vision and mission statement can work to support and protect your brand reputation. An excellent example of a vision for safety is zero accidents, where the philosophy is that all accidents are avoidable.

Some industries already have their statements in the public domain – when your business has theirs, make sure it’s accessible via your website home page.

Step 4: Delineate Safety Policies

It’s time to establish policies that govern workplace safety habits. These policies should help you achieve your health and safety mission. Professional health management companies can assist you in this task. However, small businesses can often lack such resources.

In the case of small businesses, hiring an expert with experience in creating such outlines can prove beneficial. However, consulting your staff before outlining such rules and regulations is crucial. After proper consultation, you can move ahead in formulating your policies. Ensure the processes are practical and straightforward to follow. Moreover, you should aim to bring a high level of clarity to such health and safety policies.

Step 5: Staff Training

Employees, vendors, contractors, and miscellaneous staff should clearly understand your health and safety policies.

Make sure your onboarding and refresher course include training on:

• Managing hazards
• Safety practices and policies
• Handling work equipment
• Hygiene rules

Importantly, these training sessions should be interactive. You can recruit a health and safety training agency if you have the budget.

Most importantly, you should train your staff to maintain a safe culture in the workplace. Proper implementation of health and safety systems is crucial to training new hires. So, open and friendly interaction with employees about health and safety is paramount to this strategy.

Step 6: Monitor and Control

You can recruit an HSE manager or existing staff member to monitor your health strategy. Moreover, you should pay attention to:

• Audits
• Inspection reports
• Accidents
• Hygiene levels
• Health issues

Closely monitoring these activities or factors will support continuous improvement of your workplace safety. Consequently, you can control health and safety activities on a tight budget. This final step will allow you to modify and improve your existing health and safety strategy. Plus, make sure as many staff as required have basic first aid training.

Summing Up

Developing a health and safety strategy isn’t resource-heavy. You can plan an efficient health management system with a systematic approach. Medium and large-scale businesses can outsource their strategic planning to specialised companies, while smaller organisations are probably best off forming an internal planning committee.

Your main goal should be to safeguard your employees’ health, hygiene, and enthusiasm. A robust health and safety strategy will create a happy, healthy, and productive business environment! Here is another article on hygiene in the workplace.