Story:
How to Keep Employees Safe in the Top 3 Most Hazardous Careers

As a manager, your employees are the lifeblood of your company, and their safety and happiness is what makes them remain productive and hard working day in and day out. However, in some industries, it can be hard to keep heading in the right direction towards safety and, although there may be ways to prevent accidents from happening, it comes as no surprise that some jobs are simply more dangerous than others.

With this said, it is still highly important that these employees at risk are taken care of, due to the fact that many of them work in industries that heavily rely on them and their health to succeed. Furthermore, for young startup companies who may be wondering how to recruit with a small team on a lean budget, safety standards are a perfect way to get your foot in the door and your applicants out the door in one fell swoop.

1. Hospitality/Restaurant Industries

For anyone who has ever worked in the restaurant or hospitality industries, it is fairly obvious that these positions are not the “walks in the park” most people presume them to be. For instance, there are many ways in which an employee can slip, throw out their back, burn themselves, cut themselves, and even contract illnesses from the food they are handling. In fact, it has been proven that hepatitis A remains a serious risk to food industry employees across the nation. Because of safety concerns such as these, it is highly important that the managerial team is constantly working to ensure safety standards are up to par in the restaurant industry.

The best ways to ensure restaurant safety are by enforcing the use of slip-resistant shoes, ensuring all dishes are cleaned properly, keeping track of freight and expiration dates, using cut-resistant gloves and various other cut-proof safety measures, purchasing germaphobe-approved products, and having pest control and safety specialists check and verify the condition of your restaurant and the machinery within it.

In fact, slip and fall injuries account for over 25 percent of lost-workday injuries in the restaurant industry. Furthermore, over 57 percent of food service employees suffered cuts, burns, sprains, and strains during the last year alone, and most of these were solely due to negligence on the owner’s part. On top of this some particular foods are even at risk, as evidenced by the new tuna epidemic. With this being said, companies should be focusing on thinking ahead, and management teams should focus on proper training rather than the many ways to deal with the situation after it occurs. Preparation leads to prevention, and, as a manager, it is your job to locate the issues before they even become issues in the first place.

2. Healthcare Profession

The healthcare industry may seem like fun and games to the average individual sitting in the lobby of these hospitals, not seeing the nitty and gritty of it all, but for those who actually work in the healthcare industry, it’s fairly obvious how dangerous the profession can be. From the spreading of various diseases and the often unexpected attacks inflicted on staff by mentally unstable individuals, all the way to the temptations of addiction and the stress of caring for someone’s life, the average healthcare employee is often underpaid, underappreciated, and running on very little sleep and food.

The truth is that many healthcare professionals deal with deliberate attacks, unknown illnesses, and even addiction on a daily basis. In fact, many of them recently have even seen the negative effects of digitizing patient records due to massive cyber attacks. The best way to counteract these current issues, however, is by creating a more organized and secure online system, ensuring that there are officials that are capable of detaining individuals prior to attacks, and by carrying the proper quarantine equipment in case of a serious contagion. By doing these three things, you can begin to create a safer work environment that not only ensures your staff are safe, but that your patients are as well.

Furthermore, a recent study revealed drug use among medical students has been skyrocketing. The truth is that being surrounded by drugs that are otherwise illegal can often be tempting to a drug addict. Therefore, proper drug testing, as well as security for the pharmacy and security regarding medications is crucial. In the end, this will create a staff that is more trustworthy overall by slowly weeding out individuals that are addicted and ensure the safety of anyone in contact with your staff likewise.

3. Delivery and Trucking Industries

Delivery and trucking positions are pretty obviously dangerous jobs. After all, with over 1.3 million deaths caused by road crashes every year, it’s no surprise that these jobs often pay well, but also can be risky, especially for those in charge. For instance, many managerial teams in these positions are forced to regulate schedules and delivery times, which means even minor setbacks can be catastrophic and pressured drivers only become more pressured and sleep deprived in the process.

However, the largest issue regarding trucking and delivery as of late has been sleeping on the road. With the most recent truck accident regarding Roger Sharratt leading to the death of two siblings, the need for safety within the vehicle and less strict schedules is dire.  In order to stop this vicious cycle, managers in various different trucking companies would need to be able to give their employees the time they need to properly get rest and possibly institute a plan that would actually lower their pay if they do not abide by these sleeping hours. By doing this, they could show these truckers that they are actually endangering themselves, the products they are shipping, the various other drivers on the road, and the highly expensive trucks they are being asked to drive tirelessly day in and day out.

Furthermore, by utilizing car performance software to their benefit, they could not only help the custom car market tremendously, but also know that their trucks were far more efficient without lacking the extensive testing and factory safety approval various other performance alternatives tend to do on the market. In turn, the drivers would be more efficient and effective without losing sleep or destroying their schedule.

In the end, there are plenty of ways to counteract some of the dangerous aspects of even the most difficult positions. This piece is solely to help to recognize patterns and see where your own managerial skills can be put into play. After all, as a quality manager, no one knows your staff more than you do. However, it sometimes takes an outsider’s view to see exactly what is wrong and how to improve from there.