By Dakin Jill
When you are a business owner and are looking to open a new office, there are many things you must do. You will need to find a suitable location for the office, fit it out accordingly, and ensure a safe working environment for everyone. The UK has strict laws on workplace safety, and you can click here to see more information on the subject on the UK government’s website. Below are some things you will need to do when creating a new workplace to ensure it is safe and comfortable for your employees and adheres to the law.
Provide Employees With Adequate Training
You must ensure that adequate employee training is provided for all your employees, depending on their roles within your organisation. Many types of training courses may benefit your workers, and they can help keep a safe working environment for everyone. It can help prevent injury or serious accidents in the workplace and can also cover an employer from liability when a worker does something stupid and injures themselves, which goes against the training they have received.
Ensure Suitable Storage Is Available
One thing you must ensure is that there is enough storage available in your office so you can store things correctly and safely. You must ensure that a workplace is free from clutter and potential hazards, which means you need to have places to keep things in the office, such as:
- Cleaning Products
- Stationery
- Hazardous Materials
- Food
- Office Supplies
When designing the layout of your office space, you must ensure that you create plenty of storage for everything you need to keep and ensure it is free from potential hazards.
Include Necessary Safety Features
You must ensure that your office contains all the necessary safety features to comply with the law in the UK. You will need to have various things in your office, such as a fire alarm, emergency lighting, emergency exits, and the correct procedures in place should something happen. Each worker must also have adequate space to work unhindered and without being too crowded, which could cause problems should a fire or other hazard break out. When designing your office space, it is worth consulting with a professional office design company that can help ensure your new office space complies with the law and will be safe for your employees.
Remove Trip Hazards
There are often many electrical items in an office, such as computers, monitors, servers, printers, photocopiers, and others. It also means that there are lots of cables in an office and you must ensure that there are no trip hazards with these. You will need to ensure you use cable trunking and hide these so that there are no trip hazards in your workplace, which will also make it more presentable and a lot tidier.
Provide An Area For Breaks
You should also provide a suitable area in your office where people can take breaks and eat food. Having an accident with food or liquids while eating can cause severe damage to electrical items, and you want your employees to relax when they take a break. Create a staff canteen or kitchen, and encourage workers to use it, rather than take breaks at their desks.
