Just check out these figures from HSE: Did you know that in the UK there are 1.2 million workers who were suffering from a work-related injuries and illness annually? To businesses and the economy, it’s problematic; the workplace injuries cost society GBP 14 billion. Indeed, workplace injuries cost your small business money; focusing on workplace health and safety issues is what you, as a small business owner, need to address – or else…
As a small business owner – unless you are a solopreneur – you should take great care of your employees, as they are one of your business’ stakeholder. Their well-being should be your number one consideration, as simply put, happy employees mean higher productivity.
Work accident compensation is an employee’s right you need to focus on. You might think that work accidents are usually related to blue collar jobs – manual handling injuries, fall from height accidents, and similar others – but they are actually related to any other job functions, such as repetitive strain injuries, slip and trip accidents, psychological injuries, and any other injuries you can think of.
Why should I care?
With that being said, taking care of your employees’ health and safety brings multiple benefits, not only for your employees but also for your business:
1. You enhance your employees’ job satisfaction
However you put it, there are so many small business owners who suck real bad; eying on reduced costs and increased profit margins, they often neglect their employees’ well-being, especially in health and safety. What’s worse, not many employees know that there are ways to get compensation from their workplace.
The facts above lead to demotivated employees, affecting their morale and job satisfaction, all lead to poor productivity, and eventually your bottom line. Addressing the issues by offering your employees adequate insurance coverage can help enhance your employees’ mood and morale.
2. You can avoid expensive claims
Claims are sometimes unavoidable; running a small business, that’s a foregone conclusion. However, you can always find ways to minimise claims, again, by offering adequate insurance coverage, as well as perks, such as regular health checkup.
You also need to improve your premise’s health and safety, by installing adequate lighting, using anti-slip floor surface, ensuring adequate ventilation and many others.
Takeaway
Accident at work can happen to anyone. Your job as a small business owner is to make sure that your premise meets health and safety regulations – otherwise, you are exposing your business to injury claims.
I recommend you to put health and safety an emphasis in your business plan – and start taking a better care of your employees and reap the benefits of doing so.
Ivan Widjaya
On workplace health and safety