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Ten Simple Steps to a Safer Workplace
“The doctor comes in with two nurses in tow. He sits in front of me, takes both my hands in his, looks into my eyes and says: “I am very sorry to tell you this but your husband is brain-dead.”
– Maryanne Pope, “A Widow’s Awakening”
Is your workplace safe for everyone, including police, fire and EMS who might have to attend during an emergency?
Not sure? Here are ten simple steps to help you answer the question:
1. Take a good look around your workplace. Right now.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Imagine you are a first responder seeing the place for the first time.
4. Open your eyes.
5. Look around your work space again but this time, see it from their perspective.
6. And since they likely aren’t in your workplace for a picnic, throw in some smoke in the case of fire, or perhaps an alarm in the case of a break and enter.
7. Now ask yourself: are there any hazards that I am aware of — in the light of day under normal circumstances — but someone unfamiliar with this premise/yard/site attending during an emergency wouldn’t be able to see?
8. If you can’t answer that question…
