Manufacturing is one of the most fundamental parts of many companies; without it, products can’t be created. It’s also one of the most dangerous parts of business, however.
Accidents can happen; things can go wrong. Taking as many steps as possible to minimize the risks of these is vital. Figuring out how to improve worker safety in a manufacturing plant can be difficult, however.
That doesn’t mean it’s impossible. While there’s a wealth of things you can and should do, some are much more important than others.
Implementing and maintaining them is crucial for your manufacturing plant’s safety. A few effective strategies are paramount for this.
How To Improve Worker Safety In A Manufacturing Plant: 5 Effective Strategies
Up-To-Date Information
You’ll need to ensure that all employees have up-to-date information about procedures, policies, safety instructions, and more. Using the visual factor principle - which you can find out more about here - is recommended.
Doing so will ensure that employees know exactly what they need to do and wear. It’ll make sure that they’re educated about all necessary areas.
Keeping these as visible as possible is vital. While you’ll need to find the best places to put this information, it’ll be time well spent. Once you do, you should see employees follow safety instructions and similar areas more effectively.
Ongoing Training
An untrained worker is an unsafe worker. You’ll need to ensure that everyone in your manufacturing plant is as highly trained as possible.
While that means putting a significant investment into their training and development, it’ll keep your company as protected as possible. The investment should minimize the risks of injuries and workers’ compensation claims.
You shouldn’t see this as a one-and-done approach, however. You should have regular safety training sessions with your employees.
Ensuring that they have up-to-date skills to do their job is also a priority. Once you’ve done this, you should improve worker safety more than you’d think.
Layout & Design
When a plant is first designed and built, it’s done so in as safe a manner as possible. It’s designed to ensure that workers and equipment can get around safely and easily.
If there are plant upgrades and expansions, however, that could change. If safety isn’t considered when planning out the layout and design, then you could create risks.
That could include blind spots, among other issues, which could threaten inattentive workers. You should aim to minimize these as much as possible when you’re designing any upgrades.
Failing to keep this in mind could end up in more issues in the future.
PPE
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential for manufacturing workers. They’ll need more of these than you may be aware of. Hard hats, gloves, and glasses are the tip of the iceberg.
Precisely what they need could depend on what the plant creates. You’ll need to ensure that your workers are fully protected against any hazards they come up against.
Regardless of how minor the hazard may seem, your workers need PPE to protect against it. Though that’s an extra cost per employee, it’s something you’re obliged to provide.
Should you not, it could end up leading to lawsuits and workers’ compensation claims.
Ergonomics
Musculoskeletal issues are some of the most common injuries in a manufacturing facility. It’s responsible for a large percentage of workers’ compensation claims.
Also known as repetitive stress injuries, these are problems that workers develop from repetitive or awkward motions. These can be common in a manufacturing facility.
Educating employees about ergonomics is a recommended way of avoiding this. While this could be a part of their training, it’s something that deserves a significant amount of attention.
The better educated workers are about such injuries, the better able they can avoid them. That’ll not only protect them, but keep the company safe from any workers’ compensation claims.
How To Improve Worker Safety In A Manufacturing Plant: Wrapping Up
While figuring out how to improve worker safety in a manufacturing plant may seem complicated, it doesn’t have to be. Focusing on a few key areas is recommended.
When you’re doing so, keep in mind that it’s an ongoing process. You’ll need to continually work to improve worker safety. That doesn’t stop once you’ve ticked off a checklist.
There can always be equipment that needs to be repaired or updated, and small areas that need to be addressed. Keeping an eye out for this and addressing them as they come up is vital.
Once you do so, you shouldn’t have a problem improving your worker safety.
