In today’s world there are many concerns regarding workplace safety and security. Employees may question how their company can effectively ensure their ongoing safety. The question is how do each of us play an equally integral role in ensuring the workplace is safe?
To ease employee’s worries there are measures a leadership team can take. You should start by identifying potential risk factors related to your work environment, then outline how the organization will measure, improve and reduce the likelihood of any safety risks. And finally, how will your organization define its responses to threats and security risks?
Each of us can start by being aware of our surroundings at all times and practice good sense strategies. The most basic recommended strategy is that each employee should ensure that secure areas and doors remain locked at all times. Suspicious behavior should be reported immediately to management or your safety and security office. Do not allow piggy backing, where another person is allowed entry into a secure area by following directly behind you. It is important to encourage employees to communicate to visitors that they may not follow the employee through the secure door, and to direct them to the reception or security area. It is a very good practice to send out periodic communications reinforcing that each employee should enter secure areas individually, using their own company issued key entry, whether electronic or a physical key.
If an employee has a concern about a co-worker, they should not isolate him or herself with them. They should ensure that they have an exit plan. Most importantly they should not agitate the co-worker further and remove themselves as soon as possible. It is important that they report the incident immediately to their manager or the safety and security team.
For more tips and information on how to improve your organization’s safety and security go to:
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owasrch.search_form?p_doc_type=FACT_SHEETS&p_toc_level=0&p_keyvalue=&p_status=CURRENT **Click on the Workplace Violence Fact Sheet