Health and Safety Checklist For The Office

Compared to a warehouse, a construction site, or a factory, an office might not feel like a particularly risky work environment. But accidents can still happen. And if they do, your business could face some costly claims.

Common Risks For Offices

It is important to take the time to understand all of the possible risks in your office that could lead to an accident or other incident. Once you understand these risks, you will know what actions you need to take to manage and mitigate them.

• Slips, Trips, and Falls – Employees could trip over bags, files, wires, and other items that might clutter or obstruct walkways. A leak or spillage in the kitchen or breakroom could also lead to slips or falls.
• Musculoskeletal Injuries – If an employee lifts a heavy item without following the correct procedures, it could lead to serious long-term back injuries. Years of bad posture could also result in chronic issues in later life.
• Damage to Property – If an employee spills a cup of coffee at their desk, it could result in significant damages to your company’s property and equipment.
• Fire, Flood, and Theft – Finally, offices must contend with the same risks that exist for any business in any sector. Fires may be a particular risk for offices, as the prevalence of flammable materials, including paper and soft furnishings, could mean that any fire that breaks out will rapidly spread.

How to Perform a Risk Assessment For Your Office

There are four essential steps to an office risk assessment:

1. Identify every risk that could lead to accidents or injuries. As well as immediate risks, such as obstructions that could lead to trips or falls, also consider long-term risks, such as back problems arising from poor lifting techniques.
2. Determine the likelihood and severity of every risk you identify. Also determine who each risk is most likely to affect. In an office environment, where everyone works similar jobs in similar conditions, it may be the case that every member of staff is equally susceptible to any risk you identify.
3. Outline the steps you can take to manage, mitigate, or eliminate each risk you identify. Again, it pays to think of long-term risks as well as immediate risks. For example, what can you do today to prevent the onset of RSI in your employees’ later lives?
4. Establish who is responsible for carrying out every risk management procedure you identify. For example, every employee might take responsibility for keeping the area immediately surrounding their desk free from clutter, to reduce the possibility of trips and other incidents.

Read our full guide to risk assessments for businesses.

Health and Safety Starts With Staff Training

You should routinely train your staff to understand the risks associated with the office environment, and the part they can play in managing these risks.

Along with managing everyday risks, your staff training should cover:

• Safe lifting techniques – To avoid the musculoskeletal injuries that could arise from lifting a heavy object.
• Fire safety procedures – What your staff should, and should not do, in the event of a fire. Read our full guide to fire safety procedures for businesses.
• Cybersecurity – Your employees should also understand the role they can play in protecting your business from cybercrime. Read our essential introduction to cybersecurity for businesses.

All new employees should go through this training as part of their induction, and you should run refresher training sessions at least once a year.

Health and Safety Checklist For The Office

Beyond staff training, here are the key elements of health and safety that you should address in your office:

The workplace environment

• Is there a cleaning rota, and are you sticking to it?
• Are staff responsible for keeping their own work areas clean?
• Are the walkways free from clutter and other trip hazards?
• Also pay attention to the light levels, the noise levels, and the air quality in the office.

Fire safety

• Are you keeping on top of routine safety inspections for the electrical equipment in your office?
• Are your fire extinguishers in code?
• Are your alarms and sprinkler systems working?
• Make sure your fire escape routes are clearly marked, and free from all obstructions.

Accident reporting

In the event of an accident, you should:

• Have a process for reporting what took place
• Identify possible root causes of the incident.
• Identify some possible actions you could take to prevent similar incidents from occurring in future.

Get The Right Cover For Your Office

You have a legal duty to get employer’s liability insurance. This will cover your employees for any accidents that might take place in the workplace.

But remember that anything that happens to your employees could also happen to visiting clients and customers, to contractors, to delivery drivers, and to other members of the public who may spend time on your premises.

You employer’s liability insurance would not cover any incidents involving non-employees. Nor would it cover damage to property, or other losses associated with fire, flood, theft, or cybercrime.

This is why you need specialist, comprehensive insurance for your office. James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a dedicated team of experienced insurance professionals who care about protecting your business. We can help you get the dedicated cover you need for your office, at the best price.

Learn more about our specialist office insurance services, or for more information call us on 0330 024 0755 or email enterprisenb@jameshallam.co.uk