Key health and safety considerations for your manufacturing business

Health and safety is one of the few overarching major legal—and indeed ethical—considerations that applies to every single sector of every single business. 

As the head of a manufacturing company, the safety of your workers is of obvious paramount importance, and with this in mind, here are the key health and safety considerations for your manufacturing business.

Ensure Your Employees are Highly Trained and Experienced Workers

The number of workers employed in the manufacturing industry who suffer injuries whilst at work each and every year in the United States is truly shocking, and every effort should be made within your own company to ensure this simply does not happen. 

Therefore, ensure that every single member of your team is fully competent and has practical, working experience in operating a particular piece of machinery before they are left alone on shift; and also make use of the plethora of affordable online training facilities for manufacturing businesses. 

Address Preventative Health Issues 

Another huge consideration when ensuring legal compliance with health and safety rules and legislation is related to the sanitary conditions within your warehouse and manufacturing facilities. In the past, you may have questioned why you would need a slurry pump, for example, but the simple fact is that such specialized and innovative equipment helps to eradicate entirely preventable health issues. 

Make sure you have adequate noise-reduction measures should this be applicable to the machinery operated, and that all members of your team are provided with the appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment). 

Safety measures to guard against common skin conditions include the provision of fully functioning washing facilities, self-completed skin checks after working with a new machine or material, and avoiding direct contact with the eyes or skin.

Ensure Forklift Drivers are Adequately Prepared

Even though, currently, there are more states in this country whereby not wearing a seatbelt whilst operating a forklift truck is not illegal, it is still strongly advisable that you make this a “law” across your company. 

A recent government study concluded that approximately 25 percent of all accidents involving workplace transport happen to forklift drivers, with a high percentage of such accidents resulting in the worker being crushed. 

This is just one of the reasons why it should be mandatory and compulsory for anyone who uses a forklift—even for a couple of minutes—to wear a seatbelt (no matter their role or position within the company.

Conduct Full and Regular Racking Assessments

Incorrect stacking of pallets and racking are responsible for a high proportion of the aforementioned accidents occurring within a warehouse and manufacturing setting, not to mention more than a handful of fatalities each year. 

Regarding the proper and correct racking system, follow these health and safety guidelines as a bare minimum:

• Ensure everything is well-spaced 
• It is unacceptable and dangerous for forklifts and pedestrians to work together
• All lighting should be fully functioning throughout the workspace
• Ensure access to the racking is clear at all times
• Racking should be secured and anchored to the floor and the wall