HOW CAN YOU KEEP YOUR BUILDING SAFE FOR YOUR EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS?
Ensuring the safety of employees and customers is priority number one for building owners. If your employees are constantly getting hurt, or customers don’t want to come back to your location because they feel as though they are in danger, your business won’t last long. Check out these tips on how you can keep your building safe for everyone in and around it.
Inspect Your Equipment
Do you have a boiler room, HVAC units, a ventilation system, automatic sprinklers, or other pieces of equipment that are large and potentially dangerous? If yes, add them to your inspection checklist. Make sure you regularly inspect and check these items for wear and tear, damage, or potential danger. Explosions, leaks, and chemical output can be a major threat to safety in your building.
Develop a Set of Emergency Plans
Your building should have a set of emergency plans in place. You should have a fire plan, an evacuation plan, a severe weather plan, and an emergency plan at the least. There are also other circumstances you can prepare for, but all of the above plans should be in place where your employees can see and memorize them. For your customers, ensure that you have a way of communicating to them what they should do if their is an emergency, and clearly mark all exits.
Install Video Surveillance
Video surveillance is a great way to keep your building safe. Not only does video surveillance help you mitigate losses for crime in your building by reviewing the footage, but it can actually help you to reduce the amount of crimes that take place in your building by scaring off would-be perpetrators. A potential robber who sees that your building is under video surveillance will think twice about stepping inside. This prevention could save the lives of your employees and customers.
Limit Access
Do you have sensitive files or information in a file cabinet, closet, or in certain locations on your server? Limit who can access these with physical controls, such as locks or key cards, and with digital controls like password protection. You don’t want employees accessing sensitive documents (especially if you’re in the healthcare or financial industry) and you don’t want customers accessing them either. Keep these items secure to help people to know their information is safe with you.
Structural Integrity
It is also extremely important to ensure that your building is in good structural condition. Is the roof in good shape? Are outdoor ladders resisting the weather? This item goes hand in hand with the first tip of inspecting your equipment. Structural integrity is crucial if you want to keep your building safe for customers and employees.
Conclusion
Keeping your building safe is your first priority as a building owner. Customers need to feel safe to ever visit your store again, and if employees are constantly getting hurt or feeling in danger, they won’t want to come to work which creates problems for you. Keep your building safe, keep your employees coming to work and your customers happy, and you’ll see great benefits.
