Making sure employees comply with safety protocols
Employers are obligated to keep workplaces free of known safety and health hazards. Educating employees about safety risks and how to prevent accidents can help employers fulfill those obligations. However, employees also have to do their part by complying with safety guidelines, including using and wearing the appropriate safety gear.
Personal protective equipment has entered the general lexicon in the wake of the global pandemic, especially as it applies to health care workers serving on the front lines of COVID-19 surges. At the start of the pandemic, personal protective equipment was a hot news topic, particularly in regard to shortages at medical centers. However, the protective equipment includes more than the masks, gloves and gowns worn by health care workers. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, personal protective equipment refers to any equipment worn to minimize exposure to a variety of hazards. That gear changes, depending on the job and work environment.
To ensure the greatest possible protection for workers, OSHA recommends that employees and employers work together to maintain safe and healthy work environments. Use of personal protective equipment is part of that effort. Employers and employees can take various measures to ensure the safety of all workers and reduce the risk of accidents.
➤ Employers can routinely assess workplaces to identify any hazards. This can help to determine if personal protective equipment and safety protocols are still meeting the needs of the workforce.
➤ Supervisors and company owners can lead by example by donning personal protective equipment in certain situations. This includes wearing hard hats on construction sites and proper footwear or gloves when making tours or demonstrations.
➤ Continue to educate employees about the importance of personal protective equipment, advises the Society for Human Resource Management. The society offers expert advice and thoughtful information on issues that affect today’s evolving workplaces. Training also may be required to meet many OSHA standards. Employees will need to know how to wear personal protective equipment properly, including when to wear it, how to store it and how to care for it.
➤ Enforce disciplinary policies regarding protocol breaches. Effective disciplinary programs are accumulative, advises Occupational Health & Safety magazine. That means a first offense leads to a minor infraction, and repeated offenses become more serious as more violations occur. A fine line must be walked for discipline to be effective, as the goal is to ensure that employees are not alienated or made to feel hesitant to report hazards for fear of retaliation.
Safety protocols must be implemented at the workplace. Employers and employees can work together to reduce the risk for accidents and injuries.