The Problem
As philosophical as that may sound, as someone who works with safety, I’m here to talk about practicalities.
The problem with working in the same environment for months, years, or even decades is that you stop noticing things about it.
On a recent visit to a client site in Auckland, I heard about a dangerous example of this. As many businesses do, this one had their reception desk in the lift foyer. While all of the back office areas were behind safely secured doors, the receptionist sat alone out in the foyer day in and day out.
The problem was that when a client becomes aggressive or threatening in the foyer (which unfortunately happened), the receptionist had no escape route that didn’t involve making themselves vulnerable by having to walk past the aggressive client towards the office area – and nobody in the office area could see or hear what was going on until the situation had escalated.
The Solution:
While this is an extremely serious situation, it’s also not one that is expensive or difficult to remedy. At another client site, I saw a clever, cost-effective solution: buy a doorbell, plug one end in under the receptionist’s desk, and plug the receiver end into a wall in the office area.
The harder part is noticing that you need to do this.
As with everything though, an outsider can notice things we know but have never thought about – because not only do others have experiences and expertise that we may not, but they can offer a fresh perspective.
So why not ask for advice about safety from an expert this National Safe Work Month?
iSafe Assessors have visited hundreds of client sites, and have an extensive knowledge about safety and a wealth of experience to draw on to pick up potential risks. Contact us today about joining the iSafe program.
Service Excellence Consulting is a proud supporter of National Safe Work Month.