Alice Tuffery, writer
When you make a franchise investment, you want to do all you can to make sure your new business runs smoothly from the outset. Accidents happen; sometimes you can't avoid them, but you can take precautions to reduce the risk of your customers, your employees or you yourself getting injured.
Many workplace injuries happen because safety measures aren’t adhered to. According to the Health and Safety Executive, there were 679,000 injuries in the workplace in 2016/17. Many people assume that the majority of accidents take place within high-risk industries, but this is far from true. In fact, 29 percent of reported injuries were a result of a slip, trip or fall on the same level, while a further 22 percent of injuries occurred through lifting or handling goods or equipment.
So, whatever franchise business opportunity you choose to invest in, you need to be sure that you mitigate the risk of your employees being injured in the workplace.
How can franchises avoid workplace accidents?
As a franchisee, you have a duty under health and safety law to assess risks in the workplace. You should perform risk assessments regularly and rectify any potential hazards. You also have a responsibility to inform your staff about the risks that they're exposed to, how they can protect themselves and how they should deal with the risks they face.
Part of your franchise investment capital should be used to ensure that safety is taken seriously and always at the front of your employees’ minds. After all, prevention is better than cure. Here are some tips on how to avoid accidents occurring in the first place.
1. Write a health and safety policy
If the franchise business opportunity you’ve invested in hasn’t provided you with a health and safety policy, you should create one. Detailing how you’ll manage health and safety in your franchise unit will send a message to your employees about your commitment to keeping them away from harm in the workplace.
You’re not obliged to have a documented health and safety policy if you employ fewer than five staff members, but it’s good practice to have one. Analyse all the areas for concern in your business, where accidents could occur, as part of a risk assessment. Then work out what measures you can take to protect your employees. The process doesn’t have to be difficult; there are templates you can download to make it as simple as possible.
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2. Make everyone responsible for safety
You may be the franchisee, but keeping the workplace safe isn’t just your job. Once you’ve written up your health and safety policy, distribute it across your workforce and make sure everyone has access to it and is able to refer back to it at all times. You could do this by including it in employees’ induction materials or uploading it to a shared online portal.
Ultimately, good franchises ensure that all employees are trained to do their job safely, as well as efficiently, profitably, quickly, etc. This means making sure they know how to use equipment and follow safety procedures during work. You could ensure your safety standards are upheld by putting information posters up around the workplace and introducing frequent tests, checks and supervision sessions.
Also, work to create a culture of safety. Demonstrate how seriously you take the mitigation of risks in your franchise and encourage employees to follow your lead.
3. Keep work areas clear
It may seem obvious, but there’s a reason that slips, trips and falls are the most common injury sustained in the workplace. Disorderly, messy and dirty spaces make for a hazardous work environment. Boxes, cables, spillages; whatever the obstacle that is jeopardising the safety of your employees, it should be moved, tidied or cleaned up to remove unnecessary risk. So, whether you work in a factory, a retail environment or an office, you should encourage your staff to keep their work areas clean and tidy, and carry out regular inspections.
As well as making sure the work environment is safe, you should ensure it’s healthy. This means making sure it is well-lit, temperature regulated and sufficiently ventilated.
Both these points are particularly relevant if you work in the retail sector. Not only do you need to ensure the safety of employees, but of the general public too. For example, if a customer trips over the cable for a vacuum cleaner that has been left out, you could end up in a tricky situation. If they take you to court, not only do you risk losing money, but damage to your reputation too.
4. Make employees aware of temporary hazards
If ‘temporary hazards’ occur, you need to make sure people know about them, so they can take measures to avoid injury. If you spot a potential hazard that can’t be resolved immediately, do what you can to make others aware as soon as they enter the area. You can’t be everywhere at the same time, so make sure your employees are also able to do this if you’re not around.
We’ve all seen the yellow slip hazard signs to draw attention to spillages on the floor. Signs like these take seconds to put in place and could avoid a serious injury. You should also alert people to uneven floor tiles, live wires and dangerous fumes. Of course, you’ll need to invest in safety signage before your business starts trading, so factor it into your start-up costs. It shouldn’t occupy a huge chunk of your budget, but could save you a lot of money in the long run.
5. Provide the right equipment for the job
You can protect your staff by providing safety equipment such as gloves, helmets and goggles. The exact products you use will depend upon the type of business you run and the industry it is part of. However, safety equipment should be used whenever possible and shortcuts should never be taken.
But injuries don’t just occur in franchises where specific safety equipment can be used. As we all know, accidents can take place in the most unlikely situations. Often, injuries in the workplace are caused by strain brought on by mundane, repetitive activities such as typing.
Good franchises offer regular ergonomic assessments to all employees that sit at a desk for the majority of the working day. Just changing a chair or adjusting the layout of a desk can make all the difference to an employee’s posture and, therefore, reduce the chance of injuries occurring.
What should I do if an accident does happen?
1. Use the workplace first aid kit
Keeping a well-stocked first aid kit where all employees can access it enables minor injuries to be dealt with as soon as possible. This can limit the chance of infection and eliminate the chance of more severe issues occurring.
Each workplace should have a dedicated ‘first aider’ who is qualified to handle minor injuries or ailments. As soon as the accident happens, the first aider should snap into action, assess the severity of the situation and provide medical care if necessary.
Of course, if the accident is more serious, you’ll need to call the emergency services immediately and wait for medical professionals to arrive. Whatever the correct course of action is, you should act calmly and quickly to ensure the best outcome.
2. Report all accidents
Under health and safety law, certain accidents and injuries must be logged. You have to write down information about the incident, including the date and time, the cause of accident and any treatment provided. Although this can seem like a waste of time, especially if the injury is fairly minor, the details will be invaluable if an injured employee makes a compensation claim at some point in the future.
It’s also important that employees get into the habit of reporting ‘near misses’ as well as actual incidents. By logging any potential dangers and bringing them to your attention, they give you the chance to deal with them and stop future accidents from happening at all.
3. Have the right insurance in place
If you have employees, you’ll probably need employers’ liability insurance. There are a few businesses that are exempt, but the majority of franchises will need this cover. Employers’ liability insurance protects you if an employee is injured or becomes ill as a result of their work, and attempts to claim compensation.
If the case is taken to court, you’ll need to prove that you took reasonable action to prevent accidents, in which case you may not need to pay compensation. But, if the court decides you are liable, the insurance will help you cover any legal costs, including the compensation paid to your employee. Insurance may seem like an unnecessary expense when all is going well in your business, but you’ll be thankful you took it out if things ever go wrong.
Alice Tuffery, writer