Manufacturing is a good industry to get into because there will always be demand and when markets change, you can adapt accordingly so you’re always relevant. If a product isn’t selling very well and you’re not getting much work from those companies anymore, you can easily start manufacturing something else. That makes it a fairly safe industry to be in financially. However, it’s a very unsafe industry in other ways.
Health and safety is always a big concern in business and if you’re on the wrong side of regulations, you can get in big trouble. When you’re talking about an office building, the health and safety issues aren’t that difficult to deal with. But in a manufacturing company, there are all sorts of health hazards that you need to stay on top of. If you’ve just started your own manufacturing company, these are the health and safety concerns that should be at the top of your list.
Hearing Damage
It’s no surprise that people can easily get injured by heavy duty industrial machinery so obviously, it’s important that you make sure people know what they’re doing and they’re not sticking their hands into things. But people often forget about the damage that machinery can do to your hearing.
The inside of a factory is an incredibly loud place and being in there all day can quickly take a toll on your employees hearing. That’s why it’s so important to provide everybody that works in the vicinity of machinery with some proper ear defenders. They’re not expensive and they’re incredibly effective.
Related: 5 Of The Best Rules For Employee Safety
Dangerous Chemicals
Depending on what you’re manufacturing, there’s always the chance that you’ll be using some pretty nasty chemicals at some stage in the process. If you don’t take the right precautions here, people can easily end up with some life changing injuries.
That means getting an explosion proof scale for measuring things out, particularly if you’re using anything flammable; supplying all of the necessary protective clothing to any employees that are handling dangerous chemicals and, most importantly, providing the proper training so people know what the dangers are and how to handle chemicals safely. It’s also essential that you have a plan in place in case somebody does have an accident with dangerous chemicals so you can limit the damage and make sure nobody gets seriously injured.
Related: Why Employee Health And Safety Is More Valuable Than You Know
Eye Damage
Over 40 percent of workplace eye injuries happen in the manufacturing industry. That might seem like a high number but it’s no surprise when you consider how many potential dangers there are. Chemicals can get into people’s eyes and all of the machinery is constantly kicking up dust and debris. If any of that gets into the eye, it might be too late and people could easily lose their vision.
However, there is a simple solution to this; eye protection. Make sure that you have people wear eye protection whenever they’re anywhere near a hazard and always be incredibly strict about your policy.
If you can keep on top of these health and safety concerns and industrial hazards examples, you can make sure that the factory runs smoothly and none of your employees get hurt.