Office Safety Meetings
Having a safe work environment should be a top priority for any employer. The best way to make sure all employees are working safely and efficiently would be to have an office safety meeting. These meetings can be daily,weekly,monthly or yearly it all depends on how much you have to say and how often you feel it should be reviewed. Safety meetings are a great idea because it is the only way to be sure all employees have the same understanding of the rules and what they are expected to accomplish.
A basic office safety meeting is always a good start. You can cover lifting and stacking correctly,keeping personal spaces free of clutter or general office safety practices. Everyone should be able to list where fire extinguishers and staircases are in case of a fire or other emergency where the building may need to be evacuated. If the office is full of desk and people constantly moving around you can teach them about keeping floors and walkways free of trash,wires or other tripping hazards. Show all of the employees the correct way to use all office equipment including the faxes,printers,copiers,water coolers and coffee machines. This machines may seem harmless but it is always a good idea to know exactly how to work electronics. Someone could pullout their back replacing an empty water cooler or grabbing a new box of paper for the printer. You might even find a person that burns themselves on the coffee pot or spills liquid near it which could start a fire. While most of this seem like common knowledge it is best to not assume people know something and just teach them it anyway. It will save lots of pain and frustration for everyone in the future.
First Aid Safety Meeting
First Aid is another meeting all employees should be required to attend. Not only can small accidents like paper cuts or coffee burns occur they are typically the most common. It may seem like common sense to clean and bandage a cut but sometimes people just don't think about it and continue on with the day. This could potentially lead to an infection. Showing your employees how to do CPR or the Heimlich maneuver can be the difference between saving a persons life and not. Often times it take several minutes to help such as an ambulance to arrive. If everyone in the office knows how to help when a person stops breathing it might just save that person.Stress In The Office
Al though it might not seem like it stress can also be the source of injuries on the job. If someone is in a hurry to get to a meeting or get a project to the office on time they usually are not paying attention to their surroundings. This could cause them to trip of fall they may even hurt another employee if they don't seem them in the way. Have a stress reduction meeting and showing employees ways to handle large stressful workloads can be very beneficial. If a person is stressed they are more likely to become sick which will lead to missed work. Stress is also harmful to the mind and has been known to cause headaches and other ailments. You can bring in a Yoga instructor and teach everyone breathing techniques which are proven to reduce stress.You could even go over the different cause for stress in the office and come up with solutions on how to make those situations less stressful if possible.No matter what you decide to cover in the meetings make sure it is helpful and fun for all employees. Keep the mood of the meeting light and people are more likely to pay attention and absorb the information while cramming the information at them with noise and lights is often distracting and people tend to miss the point of the meeting. Just have fun and make your employees feel as if a safe workplace and a fun workplace can be the same.