Why You Cannot Ignore Risk Assessment at your Workplace?

And, How to get value out of your Risk Assessment Practice?

Before, we dive into today’s article; we would like to highlight an incident that has sparked off a series of debates recently. We’re pretty sure; you would have watched the viral clip of two Indigo airlines ground staff manhandling a passenger.

Whether the passenger violated rules and was heading into a cordoned area or whether the employees could have handled the issue with finesse is up to debate. But, the unarguable fact is that “Indigo has earned negative publicity from the event.”

And, as a business organization, nothing hurts your reputation like negative publicity.

This is where a hazard assessment process comes in. A risk assessment process not only ensures that you meet the necessary regulations but also ensures that your staff is equipped and trained on how to handle unforeseen incidents, without damaging your company’s image.

This is what Indigo could have benefitted from. To avoid such incidents from occurring at your workplace, let’s take a closer look at what needs to be done and why you should do it.

How to Uncover Risks, Minimize Negative Publicity and Damage at your Workplace?

The simple answer to this is – Risk Assessments.

Internal hazard assessments are the best way to uncover the risks at your workplace. It not only helps you in minimizing risks but also ensures that your business operations comply with workplace safety regulations boosts employee pro-activeness and above all, helps you create a healthy and safe workplace.

Don’t let your Brand Image take a Toll, by Taking Risks with Safety

It’s the employer’s responsibility to ensure that both the employees and customers at your premises are safe. When you don’t meet this obligation, the image of your business takes a massive hit, just like the case of Indigo, as mentioned above.

Once you fall prey to negative publicity, it becomes difficult to recruit skilled employees and consumers are wary of using your products or services. Unsafe working conditions, workplace injuries and accidents both to employees and customers not only wreck your reputation but end up costing you much due to the legal costs associated.

This is why a Hazard Assessment is a Must for all Workplaces.

What is Risk/Hazard Assessment?

Let’s take a look at the formal definition.

“A risk assessment is a systematic practice of taking a comprehensive look at the various business operations, identifying what could go wrong and implement suitable control measures to prevent or Minimize damage, injury, and accidents in the workplace.”

It includes the procedures and controls to eliminate, Minimize and reduce risks.

Why is Risk Assessment crucial for your Business?

As an employer, it’s your duty and responsibility to ensure that all your employees are safe in the workplace. It cannot be ignored and even the smallest complaint, however insignificant it might be, must be investigated without delay.

If you make it a practice to ignore small complaints, then you are running into a ticking time-bomb. It’s only a matter of time before all these allegations create an avalanche effect that disrupts the overall working.

When you’re unaware of the risks and dangers in your workplace, you’re exposing yourself, your employees and your customers to mishaps and accidents. If you wish to reduce the number of safety-related accidents, then it’s vital that you go beyond the legal minimum.

The Immeasurable Benefits of Risk Assessment

Apart from the vast amounts of cash, you spend on settling workplace cases, your business also attracts negative social media attention due to these incidents. When you take the time to conduct regular hazard assessment procedures and evaluate and take the corrective action based on the findings, you provide your business with the following benefits.

• Optimize Productivity – Employees improve their productivity when they are focused on their job, instead of trying to do it safely. It’s essential that you invest in the latest technology and upgrades, design an ergonomic workspace and provide employees with the necessary training to handle their job safely if you want to boost overall productivity.
• Happy and Passionate Employees – A safe, healthy and stress-free workplace is essential if you want to boost employee attitudes. When you create a safe working zone, you can find a reduction in the number of sick leaves as well as an improved commitment to goals. When employees work in a safe environment, they become more passionate about their job and your business and take all steps to ensure that your business gets the best.
• Hire and Retain Qualified Employees – This one goes without saying. The workplace and work-environment play a vital role in determining employee turnover and attracting talent and skill.
• Save Money – Fewer workplace incidents mean fewer costs. Apart from avoiding expensive lawsuits, you also reduce the hiring and training expenses of employees.
• Above all, create a Positive Image – Nothing damages your business growth like negative publicity. When you fall victim to a damaging incident, other businesses do not want to be associated with you. So, if you want to widen your network and get more partners and investors on board, it’s essential that you build a positive image for your brand, by avoiding workplace incidents and accidents.

Remember that, “The Costs of Risk Assessment is way lower when compared to the Cost of Not Doing it.”

Putting an End to Myths!

Many businesses falsely believe that risk assessment is a one-time process. False! It must be carried out regularly if you want to reap all the benefits.

What it is NOT:

It’s not about stopping/preventing people from doing things. It’s not about creating complicated bureaucratic procedures.

What it IS:

It’s about identifying the right ways to do things safely and enabling people to react in a proactive way when something goes wrong. It’s about recognizing the ways to protect your employees and customers from physical and mental harm and suffering in the workplace.

Now, how do you prevent the Hazard Assessment from Failing?

1. Make sure that the assessment documents are actionable. Instead, of just using vague phrases like, “Be Careful,” “Be Aware,” you need to be specific on how to reduce hazards. A good example of this is, instead of just stating “Wear appropriate PPE,” you have to explain what PPE means and how to use it.
2. When you evaluate hazards and risks at your workplace, instead of just grouping hazards together, make sure to evaluate each one individually. Corrective actions must be mentioned for each element and not just a group. For instance, a fire caused by wiring and electrical equipment has to be dealt in a different way, when compared to a fire caused by chemicals.
3. Complete it with an action. Any hazard assessment process is a disaster if you don’t follow it up with a corrective action. Make sure to assign dates for each activity. Assign the job to your safety managers and hold employees responsible if they don’t practice it.

The Last Word

In today’s hyper competitive marketplace, failure is disastrous and leads to enormous repercussions. So, it’s essential that you remain vigilant, aware and take a proactive approach if you want to outpace your competitors. Make sure that you have the right hazard assessment practice in place and learn from it.

After all,

“The Causes of all Tomorrow’s Events exist today!”

If you would like to undertake a professional risk assessment at your workplace to identify and eliminate potential risks and dangers, get in touch with Totalika – the leading safety and health consultants in India. Give us a ring at 0124-266-3021/0124-266-3022 to move towards a safer workplace.