A1 Small Business

When you start your small business one of the last things you probably think about is workplace safety, and yet this is a crucial area, especially if there's only you in the business.  What happens if you fall over one of those trailing cables on the floor and break your arm?  Who is going to carry on the business whilst you're incapacitated?  Unfortunately it's not as far fetched a scenario as you may think.

Once you have established your workspace, make a health and safety audit.  Be honest!  Don't just think that because something isn't easy to fix, or doesn't bother you, that it doesn't exist.  If you want to address workplace safety issues, you must record all things that are not particularly safe.  When you actually get around to fixing them is another matter, but you need to ensure that they are on the list. 

The situation mentioned above is a common one.  Cables that stretch across the floor from the equipment to the power point is something that many offices suffer from, and which is very dangerous.  Not only could you sustain an injury by tripping over the cables, but you could also bring the equipment down on the floor when you pull the cable as you fall.  Whilst you might not consider an injury to yourself of too much importance, could your business manage without the equipment until you replace it?  Workplace safety is there to protect you and your business!  If you don't have a power point in the area where you have the equipment you have three choices, you can have an additional power point installed, or you can move the equipment to the part of the room that has the power point, or you can fit in an long extension cable that you can run around the walls so that it is attached to the wall and not creating a safety hazard. 

Another electrical safety hazard that many people operating computer equipment are guilty of creating is having too many plugs on one electrical power point.  If you have a lot of equipment make sure that you have enough power sources so as not to overpower your electrical system.

Your workplace safety audit should also look at whether there is enough ventilation in the your workspace, whether shelving etc is safe and not in danger of having things fall off it, and whether or not the flooring is safe - rugs on polished floors, and carpets that have "creases" create tripping hazards.

It might seem like a waste of time when you are just getting your business started, to have to stop the "real work" and look at things that might never happen, but taking a workplace safety audit can help in the long run by allowing the real work to eliminating the things that "might never happen"!