Business owners can not shy away from ensuring the physical safety of their employees in the workplace.

So why is physical health in the workplace so important and how can businesses implement the correct processes to best achieve this? Business responsibility It is imperative for businesses to remember the importance of managing their employee’s physical health With some staff spending more time in the workplace than at home, it is imperative for businesses to remember the importance of managing their employee’s physical health.

Since the introduction of various Health and Safety Acts, including the Health and Safety at Work Act in 1974 and the Fire Safety Order 2005 businesses have been forced to accept their greater duty of care.

Specifically, these Acts require workplaces to provide the following: adequate training of staff to ensure the health and safety procedures are understood and adhered to, adequate welfare provisions for staff at work, a safe working environment that is properly maintained and where operations within it are conducted safely and with suitable provision of relevant information, instruction and supervision.

Statistics from the Health and Safety Executive UK show that 30.7 million working days are lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury.

Making a difference Amidst this potential minefield of workplace injuries, how can businesses arm their staff with the much-needed knowledge to make a genuine difference? Businesses need to be aware for example, that incorrect manual handling is the cause of more than a third of all workplace injuries that are reported to authorities each year.

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