When creating a safer, more sanitary workplace, don’t overlook the simple steps. Relatively minor issues can add up over time, contributing to issues that take a serious toll on your employees’ health and safety. Housekeeping is one such issue. While organizing and cleaning your workplace may seem like a minor concern, it has a powerful impact on safety and sanitation over the long run. The more consistent you are about housekeeping, the easier and less expensive it is to avoid issues like:
Slip & Fall Accidents
Slip and fall incidents are the second most common source of injury in the workplace, and the quality of your housekeeping is directly related to these risks. To understand this, it’s important to consider all the ways in which poor organization or cleanliness can cause people to fall, such as by:
- Creating Obstacles– If you have boxes, files, and other storage items strewn around your office, employees may trip over them. You can keep this problem to a minimum by creating a designated storage area and informing employees of its location.
- Leaving Slippery Spots– When you spill oil, grease, and other liquids on hard floors, you put anyone who walks on these floors at risk of slipping. To limit this problem, designate certain areas for eating and drinking, and dissuade employees from bringing food and drink anywhere else. You should also clean up any spills that happen as soon as possible.
- Ignoring Torn Carpets– When your carpets become torn at the edges, people risk tripping as they walk over them. You should thus repair torn parts of your flooring as quickly as possible, and mark it off in the meantime.
Few people who suffer slip and fall accidents see them coming. Thus the better you are at eliminating sources of such accidents, the less likely they are to happen.
Dust & Mold Buildup
Besides creating slip and fall hazards, failing to organize your workplace makes it easier for dust, mold, and other health threats to build up. If you have large stacks of papers, boxes, or other items strewn around and poorly organized, they can harbor dust. There is also a risk that they will block vents, thereby harming ventilation and setting the stage for mold growth. All these issues can create serious health hazards, especially for employees with allergies or respiratory issues.
Fire Hazards
Fires are a possibility in any workplace, and when one happens, you want to be able to evacuate all your employees as quickly as possible. But if you don’t organize your items properly, they may block your path out of the building. Even if you keep these items away from fire escapes and main exits, they still make it harder to navigate the building. Given that in a fire, a few seconds can make the difference between life and death, you don’t want to take this risk in your workplace, making proper organization and housekeeping a must.
F.A.S.T. offers insight into the most effective ways to keep your workplace safe and sanitary. For more information, visit our website today.
