15 Tips & Tools To Protect The Health Of Staff
Workplace Health and Safety isn’t simply about adhering to laws and legislation; it’s about creating an environment where employees feel happy, content, and valued.
The coronavirus pandemic has got us all thinking more carefully about our health, yet there are other workplace health issues to consider besides COVID-19. To help you to protect the health of your staff, check out these fifteen tips and tools.
Apps To Protect The Health Of Your Staff
Tools To Protect The Health Of Staff: Wellspace
The Wellspace application was designed to improve wellbeing in the workplace. Wellspace includes both an app and an online platform. The platform provides plenty of useful content, including nutrition, sleep, mental health, financial health, and COVID-19.
Using the app, your staff can set themselves health targets, track their wellbeing, and identify patterns and trends. Features of Wellspace include a sleep tracker, mood tracker, activity tracker, and leadership board. When you use Wellspace, you’ll help your team to feel valued and ensure fewer absences.
Ergonomics
The Ergonomics app provides advice about how to set up your equipment ergonomically. There’s also plenty of content based on stretching exercises and taking enough breaks throughout the day.
Setting up your equipment ergonomically is essential; failing to do so could leave your employees with injuries. There’s also much evidence to suggest that stretching breaks can help to improve productivity.
Each stretch includes detailed instructions about how to correctly position your body. Users can choose from a group of stretches or individual stretches. There’s also a countdown timer to ensure that stretches are performed for the correct amount of time.
Vault Check
With the Vault Check app, you can schedule inspections and share the details with your staff members. Features of Vault Check include:
- Real-time updates: You can establish dates and time frames, and view the process using the real-time dashboard.
- Instant reports: With Vault Check, there’s no more waiting around for a report; you can view these immediately and assign the actions you require.
- Digital sign-off: Using the app, it’s simple to sign off on all your inspections digitally.
Tap Into Safety
Tap Into safety is a platform that offers advice about mental health and general health and safety in the workplace. Here you’ll find a library of safety training relevant to many different industries. The program also provides safety courses for different workplace scenarios.
The platform was designed to support clients in reducing injuries, both psychological and physical. On the platform, you’ll also find a ‘COVID-19 mental health recovery package’. During these strange times, a little bit of mental health support might be just what your team needs.
NIOSH Lift Calculator
With the NIOSH Lift Calculator, you can ensure the safe handling of heavy objects and loads. The app will prompt you to input the lifting conditions and then offers you a ‘recommended weight limit.’
You can use NIOSH to calculate both single and multiple lifting tasks. The app suggests a lifting index of CLI or below to comply with safety guidelines. To protect your staff from injury, it’s essential to see that lifting conditions are safe.
COVID-19 Health Tips For The Workplace
Remote Working
It’s likely that your business has been operating remotely throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. To protect your staff and customers’ health, it’s wise to continue doing so for the time being.
When you do decide to return to the office, it’s advisable to create a rota to ensure that only a small number of staff are in the office at the same time. Doing so will make it far easier to implement social distancing and reduce the risk of infection.
Follow The CDC Guidelines
Pay close attention to the CDC guidelines; the website offers plenty of valuable information on COVID-19 and the workplace. Employers should enforce social distancing and use hand sanitizers and masks where appropriate. They could even give each employee their own hand sanitizer or sanitizing body spray to use throughout the day.
Businesses should also use track and trace systems; and train staff on COVID-19 best practices. The CDC states that employers should always encourage sick staff members to remain at home.
Staff members who are sick should not return until the appropriate isolation criteria are met. Staff who are living with someone who is sick should let their supervisor know so that the correct precautions can be taken.
Improve Your Cleaning Regime
To protect your staff and the public’s health, it’s important to improve your cleaning regime. Hire professional cleaners to clean your premises several times throughout the day.
We know that the virus can survive on surfaces such as stainless steel, cardboard, and plastic for up to 72 hours. A vigorous cleaning regime will ensure that any contaminated areas are dealt with immediately.
Extra Equipment
To protect your staff, it can be helpful to invest in some extra equipment for your premises. Many businesses have started to use ‘cough guards’ in the workplace. A cough guard is a type of clear screen, made out of glass or acrylic.
Sometimes these screens are referred to as ‘sneeze guards.’ The screens can create a barrier between staff members or between employees and customers. The idea is to reduce the transmission of potentially infected microdroplets.
Employment Law
Throughout the pandemic, businesses must be seen to look out for the best interests of their staff. You must ensure that you comply with employment laws, particularly any new guidelines in relation to COVID-19.
For example, Pregnant Employee Rights throughout the pandemic. It’s advisable to speak to an attorney who can talk you through the laws and guidelines related to pregnant employees. These guidelines are particularly important in relation to pregnancy-based anxiety.
General Ways to Protect Staff Health
Health care plans
Providing a good healthcare plan is one of the best ways to protect and prioritize your employees’ health. You’ll not only improve the health of your employees, but you’ll also boost employee productivity at the same time. The most talented staff out there prefer companies with great benefits and perks. Due to this, offering a healthcare plan can also help you to retain your employees!
Wellbeing workshops
Workplace stress and burnout are on the rise. To support staff members, it’s a good idea to provide wellbeing workshops that focus on mental health. Mental health workshops can help your staff to:
- Learn coping strategies to deal with stress and anxiety.
- Learn how to support others who are struggling.
- Take responsibility for wellbeing with tools and resources.
On-site exercise classes
Regular exercise is the best way to take great care of your body and your mind. When you’re working long hours, it can be tough to squeeze in exercise. The problem is that a lack of exercise leaves us more prone to stress and lethargy. To support your staff, it’s a great idea to provide exercise classes on-site. Whether it’s yoga classes, spin, or HIIT, exercise classes are a fantastic way to help staff relax on their lunch break.
Improve Your Company Culture
Company culture encompasses the behaviors and values that govern how a company interacts. Your company culture is reflected across all aspects of your business, including your values, office set-up, hiring decisions, and your company’s social aspects. By improving your company culture, you’ll ensure that your employees are happy and feel valued.
You can improve your company culture in many ways, including:
- Social aspect: Create a social aspect to your company by organizing regular social events that allow your team to bond. Those businesses that are currently working remotely can still keep up their social events via Zoom.
- Perks of the job: Ensure that your staff feels valued by offering plenty of perks of the job. Whether it’s flexible working arrangements, healthcare plans, or staff getaways, the right staff incentives can really boost morale.
While you are working remotely, it’s important to try to retain your company culture. There are plenty of virtual activities that you can provide for your staff to keep team spirit high!
Tools To Protect The Health Of Staff: Regular Risk Assessments
To protect the health of your staff, you should carry out regular risk assessments. A risk assessment involves examining your company to assess potentially unsafe areas or practices.
Using your risk assessment data, your company can put in place extra precautions as necessary. It’s a wise move to involve your staff in these processes; their feedback can help you to make improvements ongoing. A typical risk assessment process involves:
- Determine what the hazards are.
- Identify who could be harmed and how this might come about.
- Perform a risk evaluation and decide on precautions.
- Implement your plan and record the outcomes.
- Perform a review of your assessment and update it on a regular basis.
Whether it’s COVID-19 concerns, mental health, or ergonomics, there’s plenty to think about when it comes to workplace health and safety. Ask your staff for regular feedback about your health policies.
With their input, it will be easier to create a health roadmap that works for everyone. For further ideas on supporting the mental health of your employees, check out The Centre For Disease Control & Prevention website. Enjoy your tools to protect the health of staff.
