Safety Management in Manufacturing: How is Your Company Faring?

The thing about workplace accidents is that nobody really wants them to happen because it is not only a tragedy for the workers involved, but it’s also an obstacle to productivity as well for the business in general. Unfortunately though, manufacturing unit accidents are far more common than they should be at this point of time, even when we have the technology to prevent most of them. This is true because of a multitude of reasons, which vary according to the manufacturing company in question, as well as the specific situation. As an employer, it is your legal obligation to provide a safe working environment for all of your employees, which is why you should go through the following and check how well your own manufacturing unit is faring in terms of safety management.

Is There an Easy Two-Way Line of Communication?

Irrespective of what the rank of an employee is, a safe manufacturing unit is one that maintains an easy and approachable line of communication open for everyone. If a worker notices something that he deems to be dangerous, he should not feel hesitant towards reporting it to his supervisor. This freedom of communication has and will always continue to save lives and property in manufacturing units.

Machine Operations Can be Deadly without Training and Protection

Machine operations can be dangerous and thousands of workers die in US factories every year due to the four following reasons primarily:

• Death by falling from an elevated structure
• Death from being struck by a stray object
• Death by electrocution
• Death by being caught in-between parts of a machine

After fall related deaths, The US Labor Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), lists death by stray object hits and electrocution as the two most common, fatal accidents in a factory.

Most of these accidents have been traced back to either inadequate safety measures or poorly trained employees.

Is Your Safety Equipment Updated?

More often than not, manufacturing unit accidents are a result of employer negligence and as one would imagine, such instances can therefore be easily avoided with due diligence.

It could be a lapse in judgement by a careless employee, or a decision to cut funding on the safety equipment; the result is always devastating for both parties. It is therefore of the utmost importance to do whatever is in your power to prevent accidents in your manufacturing unit as an employer, as well as taking measures to ensure that supervisors and managers are better trained to deal with safety hazards and risks before an accident actually happens.