Workplace safety is a major concern for every employer. Offices tend to be safer than industrial manufacturing or construction environments. This does not mean that offices do not have safety issues. Protecting employees from common office hazards is important, and with the modern technology that’s available, it’s easier than ever to implement safety measures in the workplace. Employers will want to consider these five easy-to-access technologies that will help to improve the safety of their office.
Monitoring and Alarm Systems
Monitoring and alarm systems have advanced over the last decade. They can now monitor any number of safety issues in an office. A monitoring system can include sensors that detect smoke, fire, carbon monoxide and even moisture. Some can be hooked into the electrical system to detect dangerous surges. Monitoring systems make the office so much more secure, and are worth the investment to protect not just the employees but the building.
Biometric Entry Systems
A safe office protects employees from unauthorized and potentially hostile trespassers. Biometric entry systems are becoming more common for this purpose. These systems use specific body readings like heat signatures from a palm print to confirm identity before allowing access to some part of the office. This can keep an unauthorized individual from entering the office with stolen access cards or codes. If you don’t have the funds for a biometric entry system for now, make sure to at least use key cards and make sure employees know not to give their key card to anyone else, even fellow employees.
Wireless Equipment
The technology in modern offices often requires the use of dozens of cables and cords that sometimes spill out onto the floors and walkways. This can easily cause a person to trip and fall. Employees can turn to a to handle these types of falls in order to recoup the cost of medical bills from a broken ankle or wrist. New wireless technology allows a business to minimize the number of potentially dangerous cables on the floor in an office.
Warning Sensors
There are always places in an office where an employee could trip and fall. This includes the top of stairwells, awkward areas with a sudden change in elevation and hallways with elevated strips across the path covering cables. An office might also have hazardous areas due to construction. Warning sensors are small devices attached to the wall that sound an audible alert when a person walks by. This alert informs employees that a dangerous area is coming up and draws attention to the hazard. As long as you have these posted in potentially dangerous areas, your employees should be aware of the hazards and remain safe.
Remote Access Systems
One way to make an office safer is to reduce the need for some people to enter the building. Remote access allows a person to work from home when necessary instead of coming to the office. This normally involves using a server connected to the Internet and a system like a virtual private network. This eliminates the chance of workplace injuries while also lowering overhead costs like electricity.
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