Despite the OHS regulations, your office environment may have a number of health hazards in it that may result in injury to you or one of your colleagues. Below are 10 tips to help you identify any health hazards.

1. Make sure that your desk does not have a lot of clutter on it as some things could end up on the floor and cause an accident. A pair of scissors could be left protruding from a drawer that someone could back into and pierce their leg requiring emergency first aid to stem the flow of blood and a trip to the hospital.
2. Check the batteries in smoke alarms on a regular basis to make sure they are working. This will ensure that if there is a fire in the office when nobody is in the room, the smoke detector will be activated allowing people sufficient time to vacate the building. Also ensure that fire extinguishers are checked periodically.
3. Make sure that there are no loose cables lying on the floor as someone could trip over one and bang their head on an item of furniture, causing them a serious head injury requiring hospital treatment.
4. Safety signs should be known to all staff so that, for example, in the event of having to evacuate the building by the emergency exits the staff all know where to go. These signs should not be blocked by anything being placed in their way.
5. When lifting objects be sure that they are not too heavy to be lifted as this may cause severe back pain. They should also be lifted in a particular way. Do not lift more boxes than you can manage as they may become unbalanced and the top one may fall off and injure somebody.
6. All common areas, such as the break room, must be kept clean ensuring that any spills are mopped up immediately to avoid someone slipping over and injuring themselves. Bins should be emptied on a daily basis to avoid any unpleasant smells.
7. Check any power cables to make sure that none of them are damaged in any way such as fraying revealing bare wires. This type of issue could cause an electrical shock leading to someone’s death or being severely burned.
8. Know where the first aid box is kept so that if you or a work colleague requires urgent medical treatment the necessary medical items can be quickly obtained.
9. Make sure you only use equipment that you have been trained to utilise as you may cause damage to the equipment and an injury to yourself if you don’t.
10. The shelving in all the storage rooms should be kept tidy making sure that, if you require something off the top shelf, it is not beyond your normal reach. If it is, there are some suitable steps that you can purchase to help reach the item. Storage rooms should not have any clutter on floors as you could easily trip over something causing an injury.

With the above tips in mind, you can maintain a safe and happy workplace.