 Image credit: Monicore from Pexels As a UK business owner, it is imperative that you know and carry out your legal obligations regarding health and safety. The UK Health and Safety at Work Act 1947 secures employee rights to a work environment that controls health and safety risks.
This post looks at some ways you can adhere to these regulations. Review your Health and Safety policy The first step to ensuring you are doing all you can for your employees is to review your company's health and safety policy. This document sets out the procedures and systems to ensure compliance with the law. The policy should detail how health and safety risks are identified, monitored, and controlled and what steps employees should take if they feel a risk exists. You should also make sure that your employees know about any changes to the health and safety policy - this could be through an email or in a meeting. Implement regular inspections Regular inspections are a simple way to keep your company on track with health and safety. You should be inspecting the work environment at least once a week to see if any problems need to be addressed. It's also essential to conduct periodic inspections of machinery, equipment, and all other items that could pose a risk. By performing regular inspections, you will know if there is an issue before it becomes much more serious. Appoint a Health and Safety Manager If you have employees, one of the first steps you can take to improve health and safety standards in your company is to appoint a health and safety manager. The person should be knowledgeable about the company and its operations and the hazards associated with them. They will be responsible for developing, implementing and updating policies relating to health and safety, such as periodic Hotel Carpet Cleaning to remove dirt and allergens safely, carrying out risk assessments, managing emergencies, providing training on safe work practices, advising of any necessary equipment or protective clothing. Get insurance In addition to the health and safety implications, it is also important to consider insurance. As an employer, you are liable for your employee's well-being, so you must ensure that you have sufficient insurance coverage in place. All businesses should have public liability and employers' liability insurance in place, but these policies may not cover the total cost of any potential accidents or injuries. If you wish to cover the cost of any such incidents, specialist occupational health and safety insurance can be taken out. This policy will cover compensation for employees and legal fees if a claim is made against your business. Train your employees It is your responsibility as the employer to provide training for your employees. This includes training on how to identify and report health and safety risks and how to deal with accidents, emergencies, and work-related injuries. Make sure that you provide this information in a language that is easy to understand. Employees will be more likely to take notice of the instructions if they find them easy to understand. If your employees need a refresher on their training, hold regular internal meetings or presentations where they can discuss any issues they may have with their understanding of the information provided.
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There is no doubt healthcare is an industry that will always be in demand. But, even in the medical and healthcare sector, businesses face stiff competition to succeed. Gaining new patients and retaining existing patients is one of the toughest challenges healthcare businesses face. It can be tough to achieve this if you have many competing companies located close by. Although finding ways to successfully retain your patients while attracting new ones may sound like a big challenge, it is possible. Here are some suggestions to help you attract patients to your practice and build your customer base:
Reduce Wait Times When a patient requires healthcare, they want to be seen as soon as possible. If your practice has long wait times, your patients will probably choose to go elsewhere to get seen faster. When wait times are this long, you may find that many existing patients decide to leave, and attracting new ones becomes increasingly tricky. The most effective way to cut wait time is to increase your staff levels. Recruiting new team members will enable you to see more patients and drastically reduce the time your patients wait for their consultations. Using a specialist Healthcare Recruitment company will help you increase your staffing levels fast and ensure you attract the best candidates to your positions. Improve Amenities The easier you make it for patients to use your practice, the more likely they will choose your business over your competitors. Working on improving your amenities is an excellent way to enhance the patient experience. Ensuring your patients have somewhere to park when they visit your practice is a major bonus and will make life so much easier for them. Having a comfortable waiting area that is modern and spotlessly clean will ensure patients have an inviting and pleasant place to wait for their consultations. Focusing on the amenities provided by your clinic may not seem like a big deal. Still, they play a significant role in improving the patient experience and creating a positive impression of your business. Introduce Special Offers Introducing promotions and special offers have long been a tactic used by businesses to attract new customers. But, if you want to retain your existing patients, you need to be sure the special offers are available to patients both old and new. If you want to boost your retention rates even further, you could consider introducing additional perks for loyal customers to show them they are valued. Improve Your Website Working on improving your website is a crucial tool in helping to attract new patients. Most new patients are likely to find your business via your website, so the higher you can get your business to rank in the search engine results, the more likely you are to see a rise in new patients. Focusing attention on your SEO is vital to increase your business’s online presence and will play a significant role in building awareness of your practice while helping it to stand out above your competitors.  Image credit: Skitterphoto from Pexels When you work in construction, you are working in a dangerous occupation and there is no getting away from that fact. It's never a fully safe working environment, from the materials you use to create a structure or foundation, to the tools you use to get the job done. Construction is often all about edges, excavation, collaborating with others to ensure a safe build with hazardous material. When you don't manage the site and the equipment on site correctly, you end up with a bad working environment - not something anyone should be aiming for. Health and safety is important in any industry, but in construction it can literally mean the difference between life and death. Whether you use forklifts and diggers or you handle corrosive materials and Fosroc chemicals, you cannot make mistakes. Understanding which health and safety measures are most important as you work will enable you to complete construction projects without worrying that you're doing it wrong. Below, we've got five safety measures that you should be taking when on the construction projects you gain.
 Image credit: Andrew Neel on Pexels As a business owner, staff health and safety should always be at the top of your agenda. This year businesses have had to take plenty of extra precautions due to COVID-19. Regardless, COVID is not the only health and safety issue in the workplace. To help you to improve employee health and safety, try out these five apps and ideas.
1. Tap Into Safety Tap Into Safety is an app that provides tips about mental health and safety in the workplace. There is a library of safety training content that can be applied across various industries. The Tap Into Safety Program also offers plenty of safety courses which apply to different workplace scenarios. The app was created to help staff to reduce injuries, whether physical or psychological. The program includes a ‘COVID-19 mental health recovery package,’ which may come in handy for many companies. 2. Ergonomics The ergonomics application offers advice on how to set up staff workstations ergonomically. The app also provides content on taking breaks and performing daily stretching exercises. Studies suggest that stretching breaks can boost staff productivity, as well as prevent injuries from sitting down. The ergonomics app provides detailed guidelines on each stretch, along with a countdown timer. As well as using this app it’s vital to provide all of your staff with ergonomic chairs and keyboards. 3. Emergency First Aid Training To keep everyone safe at work, it can be useful to provide employees with an Emergency First Aid At Work Course. No matter which industry you are in, you never know when first aid training might be crucial. When you invest in training for your staff, it’s easier to create a safer workplace. Whether it’s first aid training, mental health training, or general health and safety, ensure that you have all bases covered. 4. Health care plans Offering your staff a healthcare plan is a great way to prioritize health at your company. With a solid healthcare plan, you’ll improve your staff's health and boost productivity along the way. Health care plans can help to improve staff wellbeing and reduce employee absenteeism. It’s also a great way to boost your company culture and reduce your turnover rates. As an entrepreneur you’ll have so much to think about, from your digital content to your ROI. Health and safety is such an important part of your day to day and so it’s essential to improve these systems as much as possible. 5. Regular Risk Assessments To protect employee health, it’s advisable to perform risk assessments on a regular basis. Risk assessments involve determining potentially unsafe practices and areas, and putting solutions in place. With your risk assessment data, your business can take further safety precautions and necessary. A risk assessment generally involves:
Another kind of risk assessment which is becoming increasingly important as time goes on is that of emission checking. It’s not only important for the environment that you are keeping your emissions as low as possible - it’s also something that radically affects the health and wellbeing of your staff. Carrying out emission assessments on a regular basis will help with this issue.  Image credit: LYCS Architecture on Unsplash As machinery deteriorates, or new employees join the business who have little knowledge about the safety needs of your business. Coupled with other elements that are out of your control, such as damage to the company from bad weather or criminal activity, keeping the workplace safe is an ongoing battle.
According to RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) 69,208, injuries occurred in the workplace. With the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) declaring that, from 2019 to 2020, 111 workers were killed at work. Do not think because an accident hasn't happened to you that it can't happen. – Safety saying, early 1900's With these sobering facts about the potential risks of workplaces causing injuries and deaths to transpire, it's ever so important to mindful of how we operate our businesses, and below features ideas of how you can do it. Workplace assessment Depending on the size of your business, and the number of employees you have, shall determine whether an assessment conducted by you shall suffice. Or whether your business would benefit from a professional workplace assessment, from an external company, to identify what areas of the business need improving. Mandatory staff training Staff training is a necessary element for creating a safer workspace. To ensure staff use best practices, prevent accidents occurring and know what to do if an urgent situation unravels. Training should be relevant to your company. For instance, in businesses operating heavy machinery, PUWER regs must be followed, and part of the training program should revolve around how to use this machinery safely. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) PPE is essential in the workplace where staff are exposed to harmful or dangerous gases, chemicals, materials, bacteria, animals or heavy lifting. Examples of PPE include steel toe capped boots to prevent workers from hurting their feet if they drop something heavy on them. Steel capped boots are appropriate in businesses such as delivery companies transporting bulky goods and construction sites. By identifying what PPE is necessary at your workplace, you can provide staff with equipment to keep them safe and protected. Open discussion It's essential to be open to workers suggestions about health and safety hazards around the business. Because employees have insight into processes within the company which you might not have experienced. Opinions and ideas from staff can also support you with instilling actionable strategies, to ensure your business takes steps to become a safer environment for all. Consequently, consult your employees on any changes that may significantly impact their health and safety at work before implementing them. In addition, consult them on the risk they face in their course of duty, the measures that can be taken to lower or eliminate these risks, and procedures for dealing with risks. Furthermore, get their views on the health and safety implications of implementing new technology and what should go into planning health and safety training. It would be best if you also were actively involved in these open discussions by being forthcoming about safety incidents. Luckily, you can use incident response software to keep workers informed about crises in real-time. Safety in the workplace across the world has been and always will be an ongoing issue, and no business premises are 100% safe. Several internal and external influences could compromise the safety of a company at a moments notice. Which is one of the reasons why safety in the workplace should be something that's worked on continuously. Only then can your business limit the risks of potential dangers harming the workforce. By continuously looking for ways to protect workers rights and develop a safer working environment for all, you can prevent the likelihood of;
 Image credit: Anna Shvets on Pexels COVID-19 has undoubtedly made it challenging to go about your typical life and routine. It’s more imperative now than ever to take measures into your own hands to stay healthy and well during these uncertain times.
It’s better to be proactive than it is to make poor choices and put yourself at risk for becoming ill. Take the following tips into consideration as you begin to explore how you can maintain your health and happiness even though there’s a lot of chaos happening in the external world. Care for yourself and stay connected so that you can remain healthy and well and avoid any unfortunate turn of events. Follow the Guidelines The WHO guidance recommends FFP2 face masks during outbreaks of infections such as the Coronavirus. Invest in the right PPE equipment to stay healthy and well while traveling to and from work or while you’re out in public running errands. It’ll keep you and others protected and help to ensure that you aren’t contributing to the spread. Also, practise social distancing and be sure to wash your hands often. The guidelines are in place to keep you safe and well, so it’s important to take them seriously. Focus on Your Mental Health Another tip for staying healthy and well in times of uncertainty is to focus on your mental health. Self-isolating and lockdown can be tough on your mind and social life. You may be feeling sad or low because of all the disruptions and bad news that’s going around. Therefore, commit to participating in activities that will boost your mental health and ensure you stay well. It’s all about keeping your thoughts as positive and possible and decreasing the amount of stress you’re feeling. Meditation and deep breathing exercises are usually very useful in helping you to slow racing thoughts so you can feel better fast. Connect with Others Virtually If you’re a social person, then distancing yourself from others may be a real challenge for you. However, it’s what’s going to keep you from contracting COVID-19. While you may not be able to see everyone you want to in-person, there are other ways to stay connected. For example, use virtual methods such as phone, email, and videoconference to help you maintain and nurture your relationships with others during these uncertain times. Take advantage of all the ways technology can keep you interacting with those you love and care about virtually. Invest in Self-Care It’s vital that you also invest in your self-care during uncertain times to stay healthy and well. It includes getting daily exercise, eating well, and going to bed at a decent hour and not getting caught up in negative thought patterns. The better you take care of yourself, the more energy you’re going to have and the better mood you’ll be in most days. Use this extra downtime to invest in yourself and relaxing and resting as much as possible. There may be activities and projects you can take on around the house that you usually wouldn’t have time for before the virus outbreak.  Image credit: NordWood Themes on Unsplash Being cooped up at home means a lot more sitting and scoffing! The Mirror has a guide of how you can stay healthy during the lockdown!
 With a third of the global population living under lockdown, many are turning to science for the answers on how to be happy in these difficult times. By the evening of 26 March, 1.3 million people were enrolled in a Yale University online course entitled: The Science of Well Being. BBC News has the story...
 Photo credit: Life A Journey Hiring managers are now saying that emotional intelligence is valued more than IQ. Fast Company have a quick read to why emotional intelligence is one of the fastest growing job skills.
 Photo credit: Tripadvisor Getting up early is the habit of most successful people, whether it be to meditate, write or organise their day, 'the early bird catches the worm' motto is seen throughout!
Tomas Svitorka has a piece on his website for some tips to help get yourself out of your bed!  Inspiration, inspiring. inspired, motivated, motivational - all words used to get either yourself or others going, often enough its for both! But inspiring someone can be seen as an art and not everything is good at it. TonyRobbins.com has a piece on how to inspire others which could change your own approach.
 The answer before I even ask is already yes! Could you work a 4-day week? Of course you could! Its already a 4-day week in Norway, Holland and Denmark to name just a few and there are plenty of calls for more countries to do the same!
One woman tried the 4-day week and gave an account of her own experience! The Mirror has more! |
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