June is National Safety Month June 20 2014
Are you constantly aware, constantly monitoring all the safety hazards in your business or workplace? The answer is most likely, no; it’s something that often slips through the cracks. But now is the time to take action. This June is National Safety Month presented by the National Safety Council, and it’s an entire month devoted to identifying, evaluating and removing safety hazards that exist in everyday life. The motto this year is, ‘Safety: it takes all of us,’ and that couldn’t be truer. If we all do our little part and make sure that our own surroundings and our own environments are free of hazards, we can create a safer place for everyone.
The focus of this upcoming week is, ‘be aware of your surroundings.’ What can you do today in your facility to make yourself more aware of your surroundings? You can start by doing a walk through of the property. Take a notebook, and jot down areas in your environment where you see small hazards that need attention. Maybe it’s a creaky stair, maybe it’s a rug that slips when you step onto it, and maybe it’s a poorly marked electrical outlet or crossway that is potentially dangerous. After you’ve finished your walk through, you can use those notes to help identity any actions that need to be taken to make your environment safer.
You can also help others to be more aware of their surroundings by clearly marking and identifying dangerous areas, particularly in industrial workplaces and warehouses. Make sure that traffic routes for trucks, forklifts and foot traffic carrying heavy items are clearly marked with brightly colored, durable floor tape. Mark intersection as you would on the road with ‘stop’ signs and ‘keep clear’ notices. Also make sure that items such as fire extinguishers, AEDs and First Aid kits are clearly marked so that if there is an incident, everyone knows where to quickly and easily find what they need to control the situation. You can check out www.floortapestore.com for some amazing products to help you clearly mark hazards and dangers, and even get some ideas on areas that should be better identified as hazardous.
Being aware of your surroundings also includes being aware of others as well. Always make sure you’re looking out for coworkers and other people you encounter in daily life, and if you see that they’re putting themselves at risk or are about to encounter a potentially hazardous situation, step in and lend a hand. Safety is up to all of us.
Remember, we have to work together to make the safest possible environment. Always keep your eyes open to potential hazards and remedy them as quickly as possible to reduce risk. If we all work together, we can make our workplaces safe, welcoming environments for us all to enjoy. So open your eyes and ‘be aware of your surroundings’ during this week of National Safety Month.
