While health and safety legislation might put your business out of pocket, it’s vital to keeping your employees safe, and avoiding a hefty personal injury claim.

So hoist that eight-year old out of that chimney, clean up the sawdust from your floor and take a look at how you can make your business a health and safety haven.

Call the professionals

According to government health and safety statistics, 78,000 people were seriously injured in UK workplaces in 2013, and many of them have demanded compensation.

Many of those injured would have called a personal injury claim lawyer for advice – but not if you can get there first.

To discover the potential accident hotspots in your business, bring in a specialist like a lawyer or solicitor who’ll show you where you’re going wrong and how you can fix it. With any luck, you won’t have them knocking on your door six months down the line for a client.

Foster communication

So many bosses treat themselves as aloof figures, self-consciously above their workforce and, eventually, out of touch with their problems.

Yet, if you don’t know your employees’ issues, you’ll find that the chance of you upgrading your workplace will be diminished. Like a man setting fire to his shoes as he wears them, you’re merely neglecting your business in spite of yourself.

Make sure that workers tell you about any safety concerns they have. Whether it’s by having an open door policy or a discreet suggestion box, actively communicating with your employees is a must – for their safety and your bank balance.

Stay up to date

The law is an ever-changing, constantly evolving creature, like a litigious Pokémon.

This is especially true of newer, more obscure situations in which no precedent has been set – the verdict of one case could impact those succeeding it. The trick for you as an employer is to keep abreast of these potentially major developments in the law.

With a keen knowledge of legal precedent and injury claims in general, you’ll know exactly how to respond if an employer suffers an injury.

More than this, a new case could lead you to discover a hazard in your workplace that you’d never even considered before, allowing you to paper over the cracks before a slip, trip or fall.

Develop a system

Health and safety legislation is laid out so that employers always know their response to a situation, but having a few backups tailored specifically to your workplace will let you know that all bases are covered.

Ensure all employees know who to speak to and how to report an accident straight away. Also be sure that you’ve got the proper treatment (a first aid box should do the trick) on hand should anything unfortunate occur.

Manage all this and you’ll, fingers crossed, never need to worry about an injury claim again.

See also: Health and safety checklist for small businesses – There’s no need to be intimidated by health and safety. Tick off this checklist to ensure that your business is covered.