In any working environment, ensuring workers’ safety is paramount. It is impossible to predetermine the occurrence of accidents, so there is a need to take precautions. There are basic measures, such as the use of protective gear, that go a long way in protecting workers against possible harm. There may also be other facility-oriented measures such as anti-slip floors that ensure workers’ safety.
Visibility
Lack of visibility remains to be a major cause of accidents in many plants. That may explain the emphasis placed on the need to provide workers with reflective safety vests and products. The reflective vests come in handy, especially at night where there may be limited light. The vests are fitted with silver films that reflect light, thus raising attention to the presence of a person. That is especially true for those operating forklifts. Apart from the reflective vests, there may be a need to ensure proper lighting around the plant, enabling the workers themselves to be aware of any oncoming forklifts. That way, workers’ safety does not only depend on the ability of the machine operators to see the workers but also on the workers’ ability to identify forthcoming danger.
Protective Gear
The use of safety gear around a plant cannot be overemphasised. Workers often suffer injuries that would have been completely avoided or lessened if they had the necessary protective clothing. Sometimes the blame is placed on the failure by the management to equip their staff with the necessary pieces of safety equipment. Other times, the injuries are a result of negligence and complacency on the part of the workers themselves. A factory’s management should take a strict stand on the utilisation of protective gear around the plant. Failure to wear the provided safety clothing should warrant punishments and penalties.
Together with the use of protective clothing, a factory’s management may further boost its workers’ safety by providing footpaths around the plant. The footpaths should be clearly marked to make them easy to follow. Workers may then be required to use the footpaths exclusively whenever they are moving around the plant. Moving machines such as forklifts may also be provided with their own lanes. That goes a long way in reducing the occurrence of accidents.
Safety Training
This is just as essential as providing workers with protective gear. It is during such training that workers are educated on the essence of observing the plant’s safety rules and regulations for their own personal safety. A worker is likely to walk within the provided footpaths if they get to understand how such a simple rule affects their safety. It is also during such training that workers get to raise any safety concerns that they may have regarding their working environment. The management may then address such concerns.
Ensuring the safety of workers around a plant is a joint responsibility between the workers themselves and the management. Each party has a duty to be played if they are to achieve the common objective of plant safety. A failure by one party renders the whole initiative fruitless.
