Workplace safety for employees was expressed to be a top concern of small businesses, according to a survey reported by a small business insurance specialist recently. Small businesses generally understand that providing workers with a safe and healthy workplace is critical to the wellbeing of its employees and the financial success of the business. More than that, it’s also the law in Colorado and elsewhere to implement safety provisions designed to reduce the incidences of workplace injury.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers must provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that cause, or are likely to cause, death or serious physical harm to their employees. Small business owners understand that employee injuries take an enormous toll in workers’ compensation and medical benefits. They also understand that the workplace injury results in lost productivity and lowered workplace morale, according to the CEO of the insurance company doing the survey.
There are government programs that can be accessed to help prevent workplace injury. According to the Small Business Administration, a small business first can find out which OSHA regulations apply to that particular business. This can be done online. The business may also request a consultation onsite from state government specialists.
The business can also get a wide variety of training and educational courses offered by OSHA and by some state agencies. The group doing the survey recommended that employers encourage employees to report safety problems, and that an employee should never fear reprisal for reporting such conditions. It also recommended that employers have safety promotional programs and develop a culture of safety throughout the business.
Colorado small businesses can benefit from the programs offered and from the practices recommended. Effective efforts to reduce the incidence of workplace injury are inevitably going to benefit the small business in several substantial ways. It will also be a benefit to workers who can ill afford to get injured and possibly disabled, which always brings economic and other hardship to the worker when all things are considered.
Source: eweek.com, Small Business Owners Concerned About Workplace Safety, Nathan Eddy, Feb. 17, 2014