Top Tips for an Effective Industrial Hygiene Strategy or Programme
In the industrial workplace, hygiene and safety are of paramount importance. In order to avoid falling foul of industry- and Government-imposed regulations and legislation, a business must put certain health and safety measures in place to protect the labourers against potential injury and sickness and also to ensure that the surrounding community and environment are not negatively affected in any way.
Below are a few of our top tips to ensure that your industrial hygiene strategy or programme is ultimately effective:
- Apply behavioural science principles to your safety strategy.
- Determine the safety behaviour that is essential to safe operation in the workplace.
- Educate employees on the risks that they are faced with and how to behave in the workplace in order to avoid injuries and health risks. Ensure that all employees know what their roles are in the health and safety process.
- Ensure that staff members are assigned responsibility for observing operations to ensure that processes are being adhered to and that no risks have flown under the radar. Checks and assessments should be performed on an ongoing basis.
- Ensure that the workplace has sufficient warning and safety signage so that workers and visitors are well aware of the potential risks and are constantly reminded to take precautions and to make use of the available safety equipment and accessories.
- Encourage staff members to become actively involved. If they can identify risks that they are personally exposed to in the workplace, they should bring these to the attention of management so that health and hygiene processes and systems can be determined.
- Assess your industrial hygiene and safety procedures to ensure that they are making an actual difference to your staff members’ tasks, and also to your business’ bottom line.
- Arrange ongoing health and medical checks and tests for all employees to ensure that they are actively monitored and that their health is not deteriorating as a result of their jobs. Tracking health and safety performance is essential to ensure that your processes and strategies are working in favour of your business.
- Hire professionals to ensure that your industrial hygiene measures are effective and that you are compliant. Arranging ongoing audits and assessments is best practice for the professional modern business dedicated to keeping up with the times.
We deal with some of the biggest brands and corporations in South Africa. What do we do for them? We carry out health risk assessments, noise monitoring, testing for hazardous chemical substances, asbestos management, indoor air quality assessments, thermal stress testing, ergonomics and illumination assessments, chemical compatibility testing, vibration assessments, correct ventilation assessments and hazardous biological sampling. With these focus areas, we can assess the situation at your business premises, propose a strategy to ensure an effective industrial hygiene approach and then further monitor your premises to ensure that all systems and efforts are effective.
If you would like to chat to us further about our industrial hygiene work, simply contact us via email or telephone at IOH Solutions. We look forward to assisting you with your occupational health and hygiene efforts going forward.