By: Sylvie Couture
July 17, 2020
Over the past decade, workplace injuries have been one of the leading causes of absenteeism in the workforce. What is most regrettable about workplace injuries is that many of them could have been prevented by putting safety protocols in place and educating workers.
Granted, putting an Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) plan in place requires a certain amount of work, but it is more than worth it when you take into account the health of your co-workers, and of your business. VKS users can even take advantage of their digital work instruction savvy by using the software’s versatility to help them set the EHS process in motion.
If you're the kind of person who screams "that is NOT a safe place to store flammable liquids" when watching Michael Bay movies, then this safety guide is most certainly for you.
The first step is assessing your EHS risks and needs. Take the time to make an inventory of the safety equipment you have on-site, access its condition and then determine what you need. Some safety equipment such as fire extinguishers and eye rinse stations have elements that can expire and therefore require somewhat regular inspections.
Make an inventory of chemicals you are using and make sure that you have the equipment needed for the first aid linked to these products.
Once you have your list, it's time to make procedures and inspection routes. At this point, you might be thinking to yourself, "Wow, that sounds like a lot of paperwork." Luckily, you can make this entire process paperless and 100% traceable with electronic work instructions.
Here are just some of the top VKS features that can help you document your EHS processes and inspection routes easily:
The first part of making health and safety a viable part of your corporate culture is to get everyone involved. Everyone in the workplace is affected by health and safety, whether it be the person who deals with corrosive chemicals on a daily basis, or the person who repeats the same motion all day and is a prime candidate for tendinitis.
The best way to get started is to present your EHS expectations to your team and make sure everyone is aware of their surroundings.
Consider using VKS guidebooks to make trainings and quizzes for the following topics:
Your workforce is your most valuable asset. When operators go on permanent or temporary leave, not only does this affect morale, it also requires you to find and train someone else to take over their position.
So can you prevent this?
The first step to reducing injuries is education. Team up your EHS experts with your VKS authors to integrate health and safety into your company’s every-day life.
After a general safety training, the best way to keep your employees safe is to make sure that all employees are qualified for their tasks. When it comes to production, VKS has some safety solutions that will help you ensure that everyone on the shop floor is as qualified and prepared as possible:
Once employees are aware of the safety standards you expect as a company and are prepared for their tasks, it is time to drill deeper and tackle the more subtle but equally important issues. Repetitive movement and over extension injuries are the main elements to blame for most workplace injuries. In addition to those, there are a variety of other discomforts and accidents that can occur on a daily basis that you might not even be aware of.
Here are some ideas on how you can use VKS to promote the general well-being of your workforce:
If your organization decides to apply for any variety of health and safety certification, you need to be prepared for the audit. We don’t have to pretend here, we are amongst friends, no one enjoys audits. Regardless of our feelings towards them, over the past decade there has been a sharp rise in the demands for accountability increase in the need for company accountability in regards to the health and safety of their work force as well as their work environment.
Luckily, if you have used VKS for the previous steps, all your inspections should be documented and your safety data should be easily accessible through the VKS Production Reports page. Here is an example of the audit-worthy information that can be stored in those reports:
Now you are ready to get started on your EHS journey. No matter where you decide to start, remember that you can book a demo to find out how you can use VKS to implement EHS.