Workplace Safety Risk Management

Protect your employees, and your bottom line, with safety management in the workplace
By Lea Terry, Freelance Journalist / Copywriter Risk management in the workplace is about more than preventing lawsuits or lowering your insurance costs; it's also about showing current and prospective employees, as well as the community, that you're a responsible employer who cares about your worker's well-being. Making workplace health and safety risk management a priority can increase productivity, by minimizing lost hours caused by worker injury.
 

Workplace safety risk management requires taking a meticulous look at everything in your office, from the desks where your employees work, to the equipment they use to manufacture your product. When creating a worker safety risk management program, consider:

1. What workplace safety risks are common in your industry
2. What hazards or risks you've encountered in the past
3. What preventative measures are required by state or federal law

Know the laws about risk and safety management

Federal and state guidelines are a good place to start when putting together a company safety risk management program. These laws address the most common workplace hazards, and complying with them helps you stay legal and enhance your risk management efforts.
Try: The Occupational Health and Safety Act set the standard for workplace safety. Make sure your workplace meets OSHA standards; get compliance assistance or find your regional office. The U.S. Department of Labor website has a workplace health and safety section, including a list of laws and links to the agencies that oversee workplace health and safety.

Get training in workplace safety risks

With all the factors you need to look at, it can be tough to create a comprehensive safety program for your company. Safety management training can help you make sure you cover all the bases.
Try: PureSafety offers online safety training and risk management software; check out their OSHA Essentials course. SafetyResources offers online safety training in English and Spanish.

Make sure your workplace risk management program is specific to your industry

As with any business practice, your risk management program will be far more effective if it's tailored to your type of organization.
Try: The Nonprofit Risk Management Center offers guidance on volunteer risk management. At the Centers for Disease Control website, the Workplace Health and Safety section includes information on many workplace safety risks, listed by kind of hazard, by medical condition and by industry.

Hire a consultant to assist in employee safety risk management

Confused about OSHA standards? Looking for the most cost-effective ways to protect employees? A safety risk management consultant can offer you guidance and these questions, and pretty much anything else you need to know. And, they've seen what works and what doesn't from the other companies they've counseled, so you can learn from the experiences of other organizations.
Try: The Society of Risk Management Consultants website includes a guide to selecting a consultant, as well as an online directory of its members. At riskVue, an online risk management magazine, download a free white paper on choosing and using a risk management consultant.

• Your employees are a key part of safety risk management at work; in fact, it's their cooperation and participation that will make a risk management program successful. Provide thorough safety and risk management training for all employees, and make sure they understand exactly what is required to create a safer workplace.