When you think about occupational health and safety, your first thought might be of hard-hats, high visibility gear and workers wearing harnesses as they work from heights. However, while heavy industry might prioritize health and safety more than most industries because the work is by its nature more hazardous, those who work in offices are also at risk if they are not protected with proper office safety practices. For example, in the US Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI’s) are responsible for a third of all days away from work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Canada, RSI’s and musculoskeletal injuries are responsible for about 40% of total days lost.
Employers need to recognize that it is in their best interest to look after the health of their workers. Management might not put a lot of thought into office safety but they should because office workers are at risk from a variety of hazards if the correct protective steps are not taken.
The Importance of Ergonomics in Office Safety
Why you should take it seriously
- The Institute of Medicine estimates the economic burden of Workplace Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD’s – as measured by compensation costs, lost wages and lost productivity – at between $45 and $54 billion annually.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics studies shows that one in three of all occupational injuries and illnesses are due to overexertion or repetitive motion.
- Focusing on Increased ergonomics oriented awareness, training, and hazard reduction will reduce injuries, lost work time, and associated costs.
Companies have found that investing in ergonomic measures to prevent MSD related injuries pay off in terms of reducing worker injuries, improving office safety, lost work time, and insurance and medical costs. This is backed up by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the US.
When you are designing training for your employees – including for office safety – review their health records and do job analysis to look for any potential hazards that may cause MSDs. Keeping employees involved in the process is important as they may have the best insight regarding where the problems might lie. For example:
- Get employees to demonstrate the actions that involve repetition or difficult and static positions.
- Try to indicate how these might be avoided or worked around
- Look for employees’ suggestions as to how to improve the situation, perhaps with different furniture or equipment to improve office safety
Stress and Office Safety
Workplace stress is a real problem. At some point, nearly everyone complains about being stressed or feeling anxious. Stress has been shown to have serious medical implications with it being linked as a contributing factor to various ailments such as heart problems, Alzheimer’s disease, and Diabetes. As the health implications of stress have become clearer so has its impact on companies and why it’s an important aspect of office safety.
Why you should take it seriously
- Stress results in absenteeism, poor work performance, and additional healthcare costs.
- 25%-40% of workers will face high levels of workplace stress at some point during their work lives.
- The average amount of time taken by employees when they are experiencing stress-related problems is 4 working weeks.
Common ailments brought on by stress include:
- Stomach upset
- Migraine or headaches
- Sleep difficulties
- Lack of focus or attention
- Hypertension
- Depression
The general level of workplace health and safety can be impacted when there are people on site who are suffering from stress. More mistakes and accidents can occur and this leads to more injuries. A study within the medical industry showed that documented errors were halved when a stress reduction initiative on staff was implemented.
Housekeeping
Office workers should show good housekeeping practices in work, just because it shows pride in their work but also because it helps prevent injuries. Why you should take it seriously:
- Poor housekeeping can lead to many forms of food poisoning
- Poor housekeeping generally indicates a lack of safety culture
- Ensuring good housekeeping practices makes employees aware of hazards.
Encouraging employees to follow good housekeeping practices isn’t only about being neat, clean, and considerate of others – it’s also a serious safety issue. Here are just a few of the hazards that come from poor housekeeping:
- Fires can start from lack of housekeeping to do with paper, wood, flammable materials and so on that are not properly stored or removed
- Wet floors or slippy ground can often lead to slips
- All hallways and passageways and all worksites should be kept free from unnecessary materials as they can lead to trips and falls
- Sharp objects or edges can easily result in lacerations and punctures
- Tools are a common form of injury in the workplace and poor housekeeping around storing these items only contributes to the problem
- Falling objects also injury many workers every year and should be protected against with simple housekeeping rules around unguarded heights
Hand safety
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is not just for on-site workers in heavy industry. Gloves and other hand protectors are key elements of the PPE arsenal. Clearly, employers not only need to provide the correct gloves for the job in hand but also need to train staff to recognize the correct type that they need.
Why not get employees to conduct their own hazard assessment? Involving them in this hazard assessment can be an effective training technique and boost office safety. Some common hand injuries include:
- Cuts, lacerations, punctures, and even amputations
- Abrasions
- Broken fingers or bones
- Dermatitis from contact with certain chemicals
- Burns from touching very hot objects
- Chemical burns
Employers are responsible for two things primarily with regard to hand safety:
- Provision of the correct PPE for employees
- Provision of comprehensive training for employees to identify hazards and how to use PPE to counter those hazards
Back safety
With over 1 million back injuries in the US workplace each year, prevention should be a major focus of your safety training – and not just for workers in manual-handling jobs. While it’s true that a leading cause of back injuries is overexertion it’s not the only cause. Other major reasons for back pain are related to long-term effects of doing a job, including:
- Heavy physical work of any kind
- Awkward postures required to do a job
- “Static posture”—being required to sit in one position for an extended period of time
Why you should take it seriously
- 1 in every 4 compensation payments made to workers is as a result of back pain.
- In 2013 there were nearly 300,000 back injuries that led to time taken off. Of these nearly 90% were in material-handling jobs.
- Back injuries are the leading cause of disability for workers younger than 45.
While the need for proper health and safety training among hard-hat workers is universally recognized by employers, there is less awareness of the risks officer workers face and why office safety is so important. The hazards may not be as obvious, or as immediately catastrophic, but can lead to injury, illness and huge amounts of hours lost as a result of worker injury. The best way to counter these hazards is to provide a safe working environment and to give every worker the appropriate health and safety training. Using contractor management software, you can have training that is easily customizable and location and role-specific that improves on-site and office safety.
