Owning a business comes with enough responsibility, but if you have employees as well, your responsibilities increase. It is your job to make sure your employees have a safe environment in which to perform their job duties.
Using the appropriate safety and security measures requires some research and depends on your industry. Doing as much as you can to improve safety in your company could save your workers from unnecessarily suffering injuries. Moreover, it could save you if you end up defending your company against a workers’ compensation claim.
Could technology come to the rescue?
Any number of technological devices could help keep your business’ work environment and employees safer. Below are some you may wish to put to use:
- Wearable technology: These devices can monitor the vital signs and location of an employee, along with the environmental conditions in the area in which he or she is working. The devices can alert someone at your company and/or the employee of hazards and incidents.
- Augmented and virtual reality: These technologies help in training employees. It generates an artificial environment to mimic a real one, so that employees can conduct training in a more realistic environment.
- Mobile devices: Laptops, cell phones, tablets and other hand-held devices can prove invaluable. Employees can report incidents, check environmental conditions, conduct inspections and more with them.
- Internet of Things: This allows you to connect your equipment, such as your ventilation system, to the internet. The system can warn you of problems.
- Safety and health software: This type of software can help you improve your company’s processes by analyzing risk factors, collecting and analyzing data, and more.
Using some or all of these options could help you comply with Pennsylvania and federal laws that apply to your industry as well. However, primarily, it will help keep your workers safe. Even so, accidents may still happen. The better your processes, safety equipment, training and personal protection equipment, the fewer accidents you may have.
If an employee does file a claim against your company, you will also have a paper trail showing that you complied with all applicable laws and did what you could to make the workplace safe. Keeping accurate records is another way to defend your company should this happen. Another tool you could take advantage of is the services of an attorney with experience in representing companies in similar situations.
