Health and safety
The first port of call for any employer is to assess the risk to their employees within the workplace. Guidance can be sought from the Health and Safety Executive’s website which includes risk assessment templates for you to follow.

All jobs should be carried out by trained employees so sufficient training must be given. Young people are more vulnerable to accidents so should be adequately supervised. There are some areas of work that have legal requirements for training before they can be used eg fork lift truck operating. Consider subscribing to the HSE website to keep abreast of any new health and safety updates as your workforce need to be informed of these immediately.

Training
New employees should receive adequate training for their job. Supervision should be given until the member of staff is confident to carry out the work unaided. Having a confident workforce can help them create pride in their work. If the work involved requires manual handling, hazardous substances or the possibility of slips and falls, specific training can reduce accidents and injuries and improve productivity through the correct use of equipment.

It is also a legal requirement to teach health and safety guidelines as set out by the HSE.

Maintain staff education through further training for their jobs plus awareness sessions to learn about expected behaviour from the workforce towards mental health issues, harassment of all kinds directed towards other members of staff and how to resolve any conflicts within the work environment.

Wellbeing
It is a well known fact that unhappy employees leave companies. So what can be done to help prevent that from happening?

The University of Oxford did a study that found happy workers are 13% more productive than unhappy ones. Make your workforce happy and you’ll see increased productivity and they’ll be less likely to leave.

Creating a healthy workspace requires awareness from managers and bosses as to the current stress levels being endured by their staff. Is it manifesting and spreading through the workplace like a plague? If so, staff morale needs boosting to help eradicate the widespread unhappiness.

Provide rest areas where staff can relax during breaks to enjoy drinks and chat to other members of staff. Endorse personalisation of the space to create a soft, homely atmosphere.

Encourage input from the staff when establishing working deadlines and team goals. Offer support to ensure that employees can achieve their set objectives without feeling under-challenged or too overwhelmed. Encourage open communication and feedback from employees to managers about workplace concerns without worrying about any comeback. Make employees mental health a priority and create a happy workforce that relish coming into work every day. Don’t allow stigmas to be attached to mental health problems and show your staff it’s acceptable for them to take leave of work when any type of health issues arise.

Bored people aren’t productive, so keep them engaged with challenging work. Don’t set tasks that are too difficult to accomplish and reward them when they make personal achievements. Motivate team building so people don’t feel left out or feel like they don’t fit in with the rest of the workforce - have staff days out, fun evenings out, arrange Christmas parties. Bring everyone together so they can collaborate and feel like they belong to the same family. Show workers that they are valued by letting them have more breaks during hectic periods, allow flexitime, create occasional fun days in work: pj day, bring your child or dog to work day, red nose day, dress-down day etc.

We spend approximately a third of our life at work, so creating safe, happy workplaces can have a positive impact on all our lives.

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