Housekeeping is an essential factor that ensures the comfort and safety of all employees. Practical housekeeping can help a company provide employees with a safe and secure environment by reducing workplace hazards.
It can improve productivity and morale among workers. This practice extends from traditional offices to industrial workplaces, including manufacturing plants, warehouses, and factories. All workplace safety programs should incorporate practical housekeeping, and every employee should be a part of it.
1. Control Dust
Look at ways of reducing or stopping the amount of dust the processes may generate before work commences. Use less powerful tools, different materials, or other work methods to prevent dust from spreading.
2. Prevent Falling Objects
Use protections, for example, a toe rail, toe board, or a net that will help prevent objects from falling and hitting workers or equipment. You can also stack boxes and materials straight up and down to keep them from falling. Keep heavy items on lower shelves and keep equipment away from table and desk edges. Refrain from stacking items in areas where workers pass through, especially aisles.
Keep the layout in mind so that workers are not exposed to hazards as they walk through areas. Falling Objects can cause significant injuries. It is also essential to ensure all items are precariously balanced on the shelves as there’s always a risk that they might fall. Workers should be responsible for double-checking items once placed on the shelf to ensure they are not at risk of falling.
3. Avoid Tracking Materials
All work area mats should be kept clean and well-maintained. This will help stop the spread of hazardous materials to other work areas. In addition, separate cleaning protocols may be required for different areas to prevent cross-contamination. Employees who deal with toxic materials should not wear their work clothes at home.
Hazardous materials are not tracked and brought into the general workplace, which could also risk exposure to other employees. Organizations are responsible for ensuring that certain materials aren’t tracked into different areas within the workplace.
4. Store Materials Properly
Chemicals and dangerous substances should be handled and stored to reduce their risks and limit people’s exposure to them. You can control risks by cleaning up any leaks or spills immediately, using necessary precautions when handling substances, storing chemicals according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and ensuring employees who handle and store dangerous substances are correctly trained. Keep dangerous substances or chemicals that could cause a fire or explosion. You must ensure that flammable substances are correctly stored in suitable containers, not near an ignition source, such as a heater.
5. Determine the Frequency
Every worker should participate in housekeeping, especially in keeping their work areas clean and reporting safety hazards or cleaning up any spills if possible. Before the end of working hours, employees should clean and inspect their workstations and remove any unused materials.
This will save everyone a lot of time that could have been used in cleaning later. The number of contaminants or debris the workplace produces can help determine the housekeeping frequency. A company should have a mixture of deep cleaning and much lighter, frequent cleaning, including sweeping and responding to spills.
6. Prevent Slips, Trips, and Falls
Workplaces should be kept clean, orderly, and in sanitary condition. Floors should always be clean and dry. The flooring should be adequate since different types of floor hold up better under certain conditions. Drainage should always be present and working correctly.
1 Comment
Great post! A friend of mine let her desk get too dusty at work; she used some compressed air and it malfunctioned causing a fire. Workplace housekeeping safety is so important, and now I’m constantly checking cleaning supplies for expiration dates. Thanks for putting this together!