Office Workplace Safety

Office Workplace Safety

It is the idea and concept of keeping the work environment safe and affecting the health and safety of the working persons at that work.

Office Safety Rules

Before we start talking about anything we should know about the two famous organizations dealing with safety which are OSHA and NEBOSH.

What is OSHA?

OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA is a regulatory agency of the USA Department of Labor. It was started in 1970 and its function is to ensure that the working condition is safe and healthy for both men and women by applying a specific standard for working safety. It also can provide assistance, training, and education to achieve that target.

What is NEBOSH?

NEBOSH stands for National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health. It is an independent council in the United Kingdom that provides professional health qualifications, safety qualifications, and environment as well as safety management. management.

What is the difference between OSHA and NEBOSH?

OSHA works with workers, employees, and teams who have to apply safety and safety procedures at their work while NEBOSH deals with managers and supervisors involved in managing the safety and health at work.

What are office workplace hazards?

Lifting heavy objects in the wrong way.

is a common injury in the workplace. It causes the joints and back injuries. The back injury varies from a simple injury that affects the employee's performance to a severe one that causes the employee to stay at home for rest. For the joints, the wrong lifting position may damage the joints or make them dislocated. To prevent such cases and correct them, employees should bend their knees and keep their backs in a straight position at all times, Keep the lifted objects close to the body, and use suitable lifting tools.

Slips, Trips, and Falls

Generally, slip, trip, and falls happen when a person loses his balance and fall to the ground. Office slips, trips, and falls may have many causes like:

Trip, and Fall (STF) reasons:

• Liquids and fluids leak on floors like water, oil, and greasing.
• Damaged or un-smooth floor surface. Where the floor has, holes or rockets.
• Carpet edges. if the ground floor carpet ends are lifted up, there will be a possibility for (STF).
• Bad condition of Stairs and handrails. if the stairs or handrails are damaged or have liquid on them it could cause (STF)
• Un-organized furniture like chairs and empty boxes in walkways.
• Electrical power wires, cords, and bulges.

What are the correction actions for Slip, Trip, and Fall (STF)?

• Prevent the previously mentioned causes of previous Slip, Trip, and Fall (STF).
• Cleaning is the primary action that should be taken. The working area should be clean at all times.
• Maintain and repair any damages.
• Wearing suitable anti-slip shoes will help reduce Slipping risks.
• Report causes of (STF) to the direct supervisor or manager.
• Portable ladders should be fully opened when used.
• Handrails should be used when using stairs.
• Using ladders, not other furniture to reach high objects.
• Training employees about the causes of (STF) and how to avoid it.

 

Fire in the office workplace.

The main reasons for starting the fire at the office are faulty electric circuits and wires, an overload of electrical sockets, and faulty equipment that could cause sparks. The corrective actions for these reasons are to make regular inspections, maintain the faulty equipment, replace the damaged parts, and use many sockets to prevent socket overload.

Hearing damaging risks.

Some office locations are inside or beside high levels of loud noises. The corrective actions are to wear ear protection, an aware of loud noise causes and prevention should be published, and develop a plan to minimize the hearing risk along the time. Regular checks for hearing should be done to determine the performance of the ears.

Working in the same position doing the same work for a long time.

Most jobs now use computers in their work in a workstation setting on a chair in front of a computer doing the same continuous action for a long time. This condition is considered a hazard because it can harm the human body. It affects the eyes, hand joints, and back. To prevent injury and be healthy, we must do regular stretching to eliminate stains, reducing the tension of all body muscles and making the body flexible.

Poor engineering design of the working place.

Poor engineering design of the office workplaces could affect health and could cause some hazards. If the office has poor ventilation to get fresh air, the office is very tight for moving, and the office has no safety exits to be used in case of emergency. The corrective actions here are to design the offices considering the previous points.

What are the Organization's Responsibilities concerning safety?

• The organizations should prepare all standard safety rules and policies.
• The organizations should create teams throughout the organization. The responsibility of this team is to ensure all employees are following the rules.
• Secure the presence of safety signs and messages for employees.
• The organization should apply a reward and punishment policy.
• The organization should prepare to schedule safety events to refresh all about safety.
• Provide safe work conditions with minimum or without risks.
• Provide Secure basic and special personal protective equipment (PPEs) for their employees
• Train all employees based on the nature of their work.
• Provide periodical breaks to prevent employees from being exhausted or overworked. After breaks, they will come back fresh and focused.
• Publish and inform employees about all accidents and injuries.
• Publish, update, and inform employees about the safety rules that should be followed based on the type of work periodically.
• Periodically safety talks for all employees to refresh and update them with last updated information about safety and risks.
• Perform external audits to ensure the perfect safety performance.

Office Safety Tips

 

What are Employees Responsibilities?

• The employees should ensure their health and safety and keep it in good condition at all times.
• Employees have to Follow all the safety standards and rules submitted by the organization.
• Keep exit walkways clear at all times.
• Maintain the working place safe and clean.
• Keep using all (PPEs) and the special safety tools provided by the organization at all times.
• Search for any unsafe conditions and report them to the upper-level managers and the safety team.
• In some cases, employees can refuse the dangerous work and have to report the issue to the direct manager for more discussion.