Employees spend a majority of their waking hours during the week at work. It is important to provide a safe environment for employees in order support their feelings of well-being and their ability to work to their fullest potential. Each organization should have a specific, individualized workplace injury prevention program that accounts for its unique working conditions. Here are four tips for developing a workplace injury prevention program for your organization.

Use safety inspections to assess risk.

One of the best ways to prevent an injury in the workplace is to assess the risk factors that are present in each employee's workspace. Safety inspections should occur at least once a year, or more often if possible, to help managers and employees identify potential risk factors in workstations. Safety inspections help to identify issues with furniture, storage spaces, and cord management that may lead to injuries.

Develop a training program.

Employees should have access to injury prevention materials at the time they onboard and throughout their employment. Periodic training is beneficial because it helps to keep best practices at the forefront of employees' minds as they work. The training program could consist of an online training module, pamphlets or posters, and in-person meetings. It is important to tailor your workplace injury prevention training to your specific organization, as there may be different elements of risk that different departments may face.

Utilize ergonomic evaluations.

It is common for employees to sustain repetitive stress injuries if their workstations are not ergonomically suited to them. Cut down on the chance of your employees suffering from these kinds of injuries by offering ergonomic evaluations of their workstations. Simple modifications to workstations, such as chairs and keyboard trays with adjustable heights, can help to prevent employee discomfort and injury. During the ergonomic evaluation, employees can also be educated on proper body mechanics and given tips on how best to position themselves at their workstations.

Ask employees to get involved.

Offer employees the opportunity to join a safety and wellness steering committee. No one is better versed with employee needs than employees themselves. Allow employees to inform your workplace injury prevention program efforts. They may be able to identify potential actions and concerns that management did not know about previously. Members of the steering committee may also want to participate in brown bag presentations or write newsletters to distribute to fellow employees. Employee-led efforts may also motivate other employees to utilize the workplace injury prevention services.