While health and safety is ultimately down to your employer, there is an onus on you as the employee to take care of your health and safety and make sure you avoid any potential risks. A silly mistake can be costly for your health, so is it worth the risk?

Make sure you’re doing what you can to take care of your own health and safety at work for a happy, healthy work life.

Undertake all of the necessary training

Your employer should have some mandatory health and safety training that you should undertake to help you stay safe in the workplace. It’s widely accepted that this type of training isn’t the most exciting, but it’s important that you do it.

The best approach is to get it out of the way as soon as possible so that you can carry on with the areas that are more relevant to your job. The training is there to help you keep safe, so take advantage of it.

Don’t take unnecessary risks

While you might think it’s ok to stand on a chair to reach from a high shelf, is it really worth the risk of falling and causing an injury? While you might take certain chances at home (as unwise as they might be!), it’s not worth the risk at work. Make sure you sense-check the actions you’re taking to make sure you’re doing things in the safest way possible.

If you’re unsure, a quick risk assessment could be just the thing to help you manage your task safely. If there’s ever something you’re asked to do that you feel uncomfortable with because of the risks, consult your manager or HR department – you shouldn’t feel obligated to do things that are unsafe.

Learn how to manage stress

Stress can have a lot of knock-on effects at work. Feeling stressed, anxious or exhausted could affect your focus, leaving you at risk of causing an accident. Learning to reduce your stress levels or undertaking resilience training could help you better cope with stress in the workplace to benefit your health and your work. Remember to take plenty of breaks, and make the most of your vacation days as time off is vital to help you recharge.

Report accidents

If you suffer an accident at work, then you need to report it as soon as possible. Accidents need to be properly recorded to stop them happening again as well as make sure that you’re ok. In the event that the accident was as a result of your employer, then you might be able to seek help from a workers comp lawyer – but reporting it will be a vital step in the process. Try to be as accurate as you can to help prevent further accidents from taking place.

A safe work environment can help create a happy and healthy workplace.

While your employer must put in place several measures to ensure a safe work environment, it’s also important that you take charge of your own health and safety while at work. Taking unnecessary risks is not worth the hassle, so always put your safety at work first.

© New To HR