The health and efficiency of your team is of utmost importance, it ensures work is completed in good time and to a high standard, that every person is protected from injury while on the job and that your business is complying with regulations and providing a safe place to work.
With this in mind, here are a few easy ways to go about improving the health and efficiency of your team, on a day to day basis:
PPE and protective equipment
Workers who regularly deal with hazardous substances, whether that be handling chemicals or in environments with substances that could cause respiratory issues in the air, are at risk of injury and even death.
To ensure health and efficiency is the best it can be in your team, the right protective clothing is essential. For example, latex gloves should be worn when dealing with substances that can cause skin irritation – latex is resistant to acetone, methyl alchohol and isopropyl alcohol – and face masks should be worn when working with dust or harmful air pollutants.
Up to date training
We all go through health and safety training when we first start a job, but it’s important that you refresh this regularly as an employer so that staff are kept informed of any changes. Understanding how to conduct yourself correctly in the workplace improves the health and efficiency of your team, minimising the risk of accident and injury and ensuring delays are never an issue.
Improve the working environment
Ventilation, heating and comfort are all imperative when it comes to improving the health and efficiency of your team. Businesses must not allow the temperature to drop below 16°C (or 13°C if the work being done is particularly physical). There is no set upper limit if things get warm but adequate ventilation should be in place to ensure people are still comfortable. If your team is working at a comfortable temperature their health is not being affected and their work should not be impacted.
Regular risk assessments
The space in which your team works must be safe, which is why a risk assessment is essential to your business. You conduct these yourself but they must be regularly updated and can help raise any red flags when it comes to unsafe practices, equipment or the workplace itself that you need to improve. An up to date risk assessment that you can act upon ensures your team has less chance of being injured while working and that the workplace is moving forwards as efficiently as possible.
Don’t encourage sickness at work
Many employers want their employees to be in work, at all times, no matter what is happening in their personal lives or if their health is not at its best. However, this is how sickness is spread and this can significantly impact the efficiency and health of your team, after all they spend most of their working lives together in close proximity.
While protocols should be in place for any people who may seek to exploit sick days – your HR department should be able to spot those who are regularly sick and pull them up on it – it’s still important to ensure you do not encourage people to come to work when ill to avoid bugs and infections being spread from person to person.
Tackle these basic health and efficiency issues and ensure your team is working to the best of its ability and is as healthy as can be.