Managing Your Safety Equipment

Compliance with OHS laws is becoming more and more critical for companies of every size, in every sector. This is due not only to increased government vigilance in terms of compliance, and stiff penalties for non compliance, but also to the startling increase of workplace injuries and fatalities.

As companies become more production oriented, and implement newer machinery and processes to speed up production rates, the risks of injury increase accordingly.

Proper implementation and management of your OH&S equipment, including first aid kids, high visibility work wear, safety garments and other personal protective equipment is a multi level process. Here's what you will need to do:

Assess Your Needs

Examining OH&S legislation for your area and industry will tell you the minimum you need in order to comply with the law.

Performing a risk assessment is another good idea. This is a process whereby you examine all areas of your company's production, whether on site in a factory, or off, as in the case of a construction company.

Once you've identified the potential risks of every step of your manufacturing process, you devise methods of mitigating the risk, including the use of proper protective equipment.

Source Products

Using your risk assessment as a guide, your next step will be to source suppliers of the products and safety garments you will need to implement your plan.

Remember to take both price and quality into account, as choosing cut price products can end up costing you a lot more in the long run!

Implement Your Plan

Implementing a OH&S plan, based on your risk assessment involves purchasing and issuing the necessary equipment, high visibility work wear and safety garments, as well as training your staff in their use.

You may want to implement a roster system, where all of your employee's sign acceptance for their own personal protective equipment, thereby ensuring that they have received it. It's also a good idea, in terms of compliance, to use an attendance register at training sessions, as training is important in terms of the law.

Manage Your Equipment

Once your plan is in place, your equipment purchased and issued, and your staff trained, your work does not end there!

Management of health and safety equipment, work wear and safety garments is an ongoing process, requiring you to keep track of stock levels, replace torn or damaged clothing, or worn or broken equipment.

Your safety equipment is also stock, so maintaining records of your assets in this area may be necessary for your accounting department.