A business owner faces a lot of responsibilities. One of them is ensuring all employees on their payroll are safe and secure at work. This can be challenging, especially when the employees work in an inherently unsafe environment. There is no one way to protect your employees, but there are steps you can take to help keep them safe. Here are five ways business owners can protect their employees.
1. Create a Safe and Respectful Workplace Culture
As a business owner, you want your employees to feel safe in their workspace. Here are some ways you can create a calm workspace for your employees:
Provide Training on Harassment and Discrimination
Your employees need to know what constitutes harassment and discrimination so they know when they’re being mistreated or harassed in the workplace. Ensure everyone in your company knows what’s considered “inappropriate” behavior toward another worker.
Create a Culture of Respect
A lot of harassment occurs because it stems from disrespecting others’ personal space or boundaries. You want your staff to respect each other as well as their peers. It’s important that everyone feels comfortable speaking up if someone else crosses the line (whether it’s with physical contact or language).
Develop a Code of Conduct
A code of conduct can help establish the values and standards you expect from your employees in the workplace. It should be written clearly, so everyone understands what it means to work at your company. This is a great way to set expectations and create a safe environment for employees to work in.
2. Provide Proper Insurance Coverage
One of the most important things you can do as a business owner is to provide proper insurance coverage for your team members. This includes health insurance and life insurance policies that will help ensure that your employees and their families will be taken care of if something happens to them while working for you. It also covers any injuries they may suffer while on the job.
3. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are a way that business owners can help protect their employees. EAPs provide confidential counseling, referrals, and other services to employees with personal problems that negatively affect their work performance.
The value of an EAP is that it enables the employer to decrease employee absenteeism and increase productivity by addressing the root causes of stress in the workplace. The program also helps employers limit the time spent dealing with employees’ personal issues, which frees up their time for more important matters such as setting strategies and managing finances.
4. Create an Emergency Protocol
Here are steps business owners can take to protect their employees in an emergency:
Create a Plan for What to Do When Disaster Strikes
Business owners should have a plan to protect their employees, customers, and the community from disasters like machine failure. Accordingly, there should be a machine safety protocol in case of a malfunction. The emergency plan should include procedures for shutting down the machine, rebooting the machine, and evacuating in case all the other approaches fail.
Make Sure Your Employees Know the Plan
The best way to ensure your staff is prepared is by educating them on staying safe in an emergency. A great way to do this is through training sessions and exercises with your staff members, so they know what to expect when disaster strikes your area.
Develop a Backup Plan in Case of Power Loss
You can never predict what will happen during an emergency. Still, you can prepare for possible scenarios by having backup plans for when the electricity goes out or other critical systems fail during an outage (such as water usage).
5. Protect Your Employees from Cyber Threats
As a business owner, you are responsible for protecting your employees from cyber threats. Here are some tips to help you do that:
Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Encourage employees to use two-factor authentication where possible, and make it a requirement for high-value accounts. This means that anyone trying to access your employees’ network will have to enter not just their password but also another piece of information that only they should have access to.
Educate Your Employees About Cyber Security
Employees often don’t know about the dangers of phishing attacks or other types of hacking because they aren’t familiar with the latest threats. You should educate them about these risks so they can help protect themselves and their company from cybercrime.
Install Anti-Virus Software on All Devices
Anti-virus software will detect any malicious software on your computer and block it before it can cause any damage or steal data from your system. You should install anti-virus software on all devices used by employees.
Conclusion
Not only do business owners have an obligation to provide safety for their employees, but they are responsible for setting and maintaining the policies that do just that. By protecting employees, business owners are ultimately protecting their businesses as well.
