Security breaches, health risks, and work-related accidents may not seem like serious workplace issues in your office when you compare them to work-related risks found in factories or on construction sites.
That doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t risks to working in an office. Workplace injuries, illness outbreaks, and even unwelcome visitors with malintent pose a threat to any office.
How can you ensure that you, your employees, and your visitors are safe? Here are three ways to ensure safety at your office.
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Minimize Health Hazards
You might not be handling toxic chemicals or other dangerous substances in your office, but there are still many health hazards you can be aware of to protect your employees.
Common office health hazards include:
- Infectious diseases. Providing a clean work environment will help prevent the spread of contagious diseases in the office.
Soap, hand sanitizer, handwashing stations, touchless sinks, hand dryers, and appropriately distanced workspaces can protect your employees. Many companies also require daily temperature readings.
It’s also good to encourage your employees to stay home when they feel unwell by not pressuring them to return to work too quickly.
- Ergonomic injuries. Working at a desk might not seem risky to your health, but poor posture and repetitive movements can lead to long-term injuries and health concerns.
You can avoid these problems by teaching employees to sit at their desks with the chair, keyboard, and monitor aligned with their bodies. Provide them with chairs that offer plenty of support and promote good posture.
- Eyestrain. The fluorescent lights in office buildings are typically too bright for your eyes. You can fix this quickly by removing a few lightbulbs and then providing separate task laps for employees if they need more light for a particular task.
Lowering computer monitor brightness is also helpful in reducing eye strain as well as reducing the glare from windows or other lights.
If employees wear glasses, encourage them to make sure they’re wearing the correct lens strength, and remind them to increase the font size on their screens to avoid overstraining their eyes.
Additionally, it’s recommended that taking a 10-minute break every hour you spend on the computer will let your eyes rest and adjust your focus.
- Mental health concerns. Checking in regularly with your employees and providing professional counseling when needed will help combat depression and related health conditions.
Ensuring that your employees also feel valued and safe in the office will also help with mental health. Encourage them to speak up about harassment or similar problems that could lead to feelings of discouragement and fear.
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Create a Safe Environment
There can be safety hazards even in an office. Slips, trips, and falls can happen when spills are left unattended, floors are wet, cords are exposed, or areas are cluttered.
Keeping walkways clear from snow and ice as well as clutter will prevent falls.
Fire hazards can also be a concern in office buildings. Exposed power cords, overloaded outlets, and improper use of extension cords are the biggest cause of fires in the workplace.
While the goal is to prevent fires altogether, you also want to prevent any fire or smoke-related injuries in the event of a fire.
Make sure your fire alarms are up to date and functioning correctly. All exits should be clear from debris and easily accessible. You’ll also want to make sure your employees know what to do if the fire alarms go off.
An unseen hazard could include the air quality of your office. There should be plenty of airflow through the office and well-maintained filtration systems. Keeping surfaces clean from dust and pollen will also improve the air quality and prevent allergies, asthma, and other respiratory conditions from being triggered.
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Streamline Your Visitor Protocol
If you have many guests coming in and out of your workplace, you’ll want to make sure of who they are and that they’re getting where they need to be.
Keeping track of who enters your office will keep you, your employees, and other visitors safe from things like workplace violence or the spreading of contagious diseases.
Employee and visitor safety needs to be at the top of your priority list.
You can do this by implementing facial recognition and temperature capturing software. Before guests even enter the building, you’ll know who they are and ensure that they aren’t ill.
In fact, with the software we offer, guests cannot even check-in until our security database screens them and clears them from any red flags.
Additionally, providing essential documents and policies to your visitors electronically allows them to read and sign them beforehand without so they spend less time in your waiting room, lessening the chances of overcrowding the area. It also means sharing and signing documents is contactless and quick.
Our software allows visitors to take a picture of their photo ID which will then autofill their check-in form with the correct information. It not only allows you to be certain of their identity, but it simplifies the form process for your guest as well.
Not only will automatic check-in and security protocols protect you and your employees, but they will improve your guests’ experiences.
Hosts will be notified instantly when their guests arrive. They will even see their picture and location so they can find them quickly. They’ll spend less time waiting, and you and your employees will be confident about the guest’s identity.
Ensuring a Safe Office Experience
We know the health and safety of your guests and employees is of utmost importance to you. There are little things that are often overlooked in offices, but that can make all the difference.
Minimizing health risks, creating a safe work environment, and prioritizing visitor safety will ensure both your employees and visitors have a positive workplace experience.
If you’re not sure how to get started, EaseVisitor is here to help. From a secure check-in process to protecting those around you from contagious disease, we offer visitor safe solutions for companies of all sizes.
