Safety in Design

Teams are designed to distribute the workload in an acceptable manner to achieve a common goal. Everyone pulls together and looks out for each other. One way of looking out for your team members is keep your work environment safe. It is not just one person’s responsibility to ensure a safe work area. It is everyone’s job.

Teams that designate one person to ensure the work zone is safe will have more workplace injuries. Other members may ignore safety hazards thinking the designee is going to handle it. The one assigned is probably overwhelmed and needs all members to pitch in. Safety is a full time job that requires everyone pitching in.

Workplaces that perform the same duties and handle the same materials everyday will have the same safety issues daily. Any team member that notices a hazard should not wait on someone else to correct the problem. Continual problems will only lead to injuries. The team must come together and agree that problems, regardless of who may be responsible, should be handled immediately.

Some people are more organized than others are. The less organized individuals may tend to be messier in their work. This leads to accidents. Every member should be responsible for their work area and not depend on others to clean up after them. Organization and structure is the key to a well functioning team.