Workplace Safety 101: How Facilities Management Plays a Key Role

How Facilities Management Can Optimise Safety in Your Workplace

Workplace safety is an essential part of operating a business. With employees now returning to offices, businesses growing, and their operations expanding, ensuring the safety and security of those within your facilities is a top priority; this is where Facilities Management can help. 

Within many workplaces, Facilities Management teams play a crucial role in ensuring a safe workplace environment, whether it be through cleaning protocols, or keeping your systems well maintained. In this blog post, we will cover how Facilities Management contributes to a safe workplace, and why it is essential for businesses to prioritise safety. 

Ensuring Compliance with Safety Regulations 

A primary role of Facilities Management is to ensure that all managed areas adhere to all applicable safety regulations. Facilities Managers have an understanding of applicable laws to each area, and take the stress away from business owners in ensuring that they are compliant. 

Examples include: 

• Conducting regular inspections of the facility
• Ensuring that safety equipment such as fire extinguishers, alarms, and sprinkler systems are functional
• Quickly addressing regulatory safety violations such as blocked fire exits and improper storage of hazardous materials 

A business that meets safety standards will reduce the risk of occupant injury, and create a better workplace environment. 

Maintenance of Equipment and Infrastructure 

Poorly maintained equipment is often a cause of workplace accidents or injury. Facilities Management can ensure that your systems are proactively maintained, and therefore dramatically reduce the risk of accidents. This includes covers every aspect of your Facility. 

For instance: 

• Maintenance of electrical systems to prevent fires and electrocutions 
• Maintenance of HVAC systems to ensure good temperature and air quality, which are essential to employee health
• Maintenance of lifts, escalators, and other such machinery to avoid malfunctions, and comply with regulations 

With regular maintenance, Facilities Management prevents minor issues from escalating into major safety hazards. 

Implementation of Emergency Response Plans 

Unforeseen emergencies such as fires, natural disasters, or health crises can happen when you least expect them. Having an effective emergency response plan is essential to reducing the risk of damage and ensuring the safety of your facilities occupants. Facilities Managers can create, test, and implement these plans. 

Key areas include: 

• Fire drills and evacuations to ensure that occupants know the safest and quickest way to exit the building
• Emergency lighting and signage to ensure that the exits are well marked and illuminated
• First-aid stations and employee training to prepare in the event of injury or accidents 

In crisis situations, making sure that you have a plan in place, and that all safety systems and instruments are well maintained is crucial. 

Ensuring a Clean and Healthy Environment 

Since the pandemic, hygiene and cleanliness have never been more prominent. A clean environment is a safer environment; Facilities Management can ensure this by establishing cleaning protocols, making sure the workplace is well sanitised, and managing the air quality. 

Examples include: 

• Implement/ ensure proper ventilation to reduce airborne contaminants
• Ensure all areas are properly cleaned and disinfected, especially high traffic areas
• Make sure that all sanitation supplies, such as cleaning wipes and hand sanitisers, are restocked 

A clean workplace not only reduces the risk and spread of illness, and therefore periods of downtime, but also contributes to the overall well-being of employees, improving working conditions. 

Promoting Workplace Ergonomics 

When on the subject of workplace safety, things such as slips and falls are the most visible forms of injury, however, the physical well-being of employees goes far beyond this. Ergonomics, the study of people's efficiency in their working environment, pays a key role in the reduction of long-term injuries such as repetitive strain injuries, or back pains. 

Facilities Managment can help by: 

• Design layouts that reduce repetitive motions or excessive stretching
• Optimise lighting and screens to reduce eye strain
• Provide adjustable workstations to reduce discomfort 

By focusing on the ergonomics of your workspace, Facilities Managers can help improve employee comfort, reduce workplace injury and illness, and enhance productivity. For more examples, and to see if you could benefit from ergonomical optimisation, click here. 

Technology and Monitoring for Safety 

Advancements in technology mean that Facilities Managers can now monitor a multitude of aspects within your facility, and therefore optimise them to ensure safety throughout your buildings. This can be achieved through the implementation of systems such as smart sensors. 

Examples include: 

• Implementation of automated systems, which comply with regulations without manual intervention
• IoT devices which can monitor a variety of things, such as air quality or building vibrations, and therefore aid Facilities Managers in proactively maintaining your building
• Security cameras and sensors to help monitor for unauthorised access, and detect accidents in real time 

Technology can assist in workplace safety by allowing Facilities Managers to monitor risks, manage maintenance, and ensure safety in an efficient way. Click here to learn more about modern Facilities Management advancements.  

If you would like to discuss the improvement of safety within your workspace, SEFM are proud to offer facilities management services across the UK; if you need any help with your facility, fill out our form by clicking here and a member of our team will be happy to assist you!