Employees’ welfare is key to the success of any organization. And welfare goes way beyond money. With the World Day for Safety and Health at Work around the corner, now is as good a time as any to think about the welfare and safety of employees in the workplace.
And speaking of safety, one routinely ignored but critical player is the condition of your floors. Bad floors can constitute a serious risk to employee safety, especially in manufacturing and warehouse facilities. That’s why concern for a proper and well-maintained floor should be at the very top of the safety checklist for many industries.
Besides safety, the floor quality also adds to the overall appeal of a building. Hence, every facility needs to ensure that priority is not only given to the floor at the initial setup stage, but a consistent maintenance routine must also be in place.
Why Bad Floors Can be so Dangerous
Damaged floors pose serious threats to the safety of employees, as well as machines. And you definitely don’t want to wait until you lose your genius staff or expensive machinery before you start paying attention. Here are the risks associated with poor floor quality.
For employees:
• Wet, greasy, and slippery surfaces increase slip and fall hazards.
• Depending on the degree of a fall, injuries could range from minor to severe.
• Falls can render the victim sick, or unconscious, and in need of hospitalization or treatment.
• Also, depending on the degree of a fall and the affected body part, an employee could lose the use of the affected part permanently.
For machinery:
• Machines could get stuck in cracked and uneven surfaces.
• Moving equipment through rough terrain, continuously, can cause quick wear.
• Machine parts can get damaged.
• Whether for employees or machinery, financial loss is inevitable in the long run.
How to Properly Protect Your Floors
There are several steps to take to ensure that your company floors are in pristine condition at all times. Here are some of them:
1. Accommodate it In your budget
You can never go wrong with a little planning ahead. You'll only have time (and resources) for what you plan for. So the very first step to proper floor maintenance is making room for it in your budget.
2. Set up a maintenance team
If you're a manager or CEO, you certainly don’t have the time to monitor floor maintenance. That’s why every manufacturing plant should have a maintenance unit. And the duties of this unit are not limited to overseeing equipment. They should see to the overall soundness of every part of the plant... including the floors.
3. Install proper safety signs and labels
Proper safety signage and labeling of lanes and turns on the floors of a manufacturing plant could be the difference between safety and injury... especially for new employees. Different sections of the facility may have different floor types which means certain machinery that can be moved around safely on a smooth floor may constitute a danger on a rough surface. So, proper labels should be in place to help caution workers as they carry out their daily tasks on the facility floor.
4. Bring in the experts
In any setup, getting the job done isn't quite as important as doing it right. Not every fault can be fixed by your in-house maintenance team... especially when it comes to floor quality. That's why you shouldn't hesitate to bring in the experts when the need arises. This won't only ensure that the job is done right, but it will also save you a lot of money down the line.
Furthermore, you could never go wrong with a bit of expert advice from time to time. There are different kinds of floor finishes available. And depending on the specific operations you carry out in your facility, different kinds of finishes may be required to optimize your operations within the same facility. At this point, an expert recommendation can make all the difference.
Here at Concrete Coatings of the Carolinas, we are experts in all kinds of floor finishes. And if excellence is your desire, we're here for you. We offer a free consultation session where we inspect your space, highlight your various flooring options and provide our expert opinion on which one would be best for your facility. We currently serve businesses across North and South Carolina and it would be our pleasure not only to make your company floor a sight to see but also a safe ground for your employees to walk and work on.