ARE YOU THINKING SAFETY FIRST? Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
“Creating an office Health and Safety Team is often a Q2 activity: important but not urgent, until it is.”
BY SHARRON RICHARDSON, VP BROKER SERVICES Many of us have had to make significant adjustments to adapt in 2020 and going to work likely looks much different than it did at the beginning of the year. And though a pandemic is an extreme example, its presence has underscored the importance of something that is often relegated to the to-do later list. Creating an office Health and Safety Team is often a Q2 activity: important but not urgent, until it is. Because many of us spend a good deal of time at our workplace with our colleagues, and because health emergencies don’t just occur on personal time, it’s important to remember that health and safety in the workplace, whether there’s a pandemic or not, is something to address. Consider the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shared that 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported by private industry employers in 2018, and that there were 900,380 injuries or illnesses that caused a worker to miss at least one day of work within private industry that same year. It becomes apparent that businesses need to be prepared in order to mitigate health and safety emergencies in the workplace. Check with your state, provincial, and/or local municipal workplace safety organizations. They’ll cite the necessary regulations and standards you need to implement based on your workplace size and type of business. If you don’t meet the minimum requirements to adhere to regulatory policy, you might consider putting together a Health and Safety Team on your own.
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