Occupational hygiene is paramount for businesses in Australia that are high-risk in nature, such as mining and oil and gas companies. As an owner of these types of businesses, you have a responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of your staff, visitors, and customers by providing the right environment for them.
However, establishing a proper industrial hygiene policy requires expertise. You need to have the right knowledge and skills to identify, assess, and control any potential hazards in the workplace. You also need to make sure that you’re using a system that’s compliant with all relevant regulations. And, if you don’t have the resources to do this yourself, your workplace might not be as safe as it should be for the people in it.
Lucky for you, there’s one efficient solution to this problem—hiring professional occupational hygienists!
What Is an Occupational Hygienist?
Occupational hygienists are workplace health and safety professionals with extensive knowledge of occupational hygiene principles, practices, and equipment. They evaluate the potential risks posed by hazardous materials and processes in a given environment to ensure that workers are safe from physical or chemical injuries or illnesses.
These workplace safety specialists typically use various sampling methods and analysis techniques to measure and identify any potential contaminants that may be present within your facility and premises. From there, they develop a plan of action that outlines how best to reduce risk and improve safety standards through measures, such as ventilation systems, personal protective equipment, or engineering controls.
Moreover, these professionals can also provide training on proper safety procedures, carry out inspections to ensure that these policies are being followed, and offer support in the event of an incident or accident.
4 Areas Where Occupational Hygienists Can Help Your Business
Workplace hygiene experts can help you and your business in many ways. Here are the primary areas where they’re invaluable.
1. Health Hazard Assessment
If you don’t have a keen eye to assess the health hazards in your workplace, then you can leave it to the experts. These professionals are trained to identify such threats and help implement control measures, as well as advise on safety policies.
They conduct an occupational exposure assessment that’s tailored to the specific needs of your business. For example, if you have a mining site, they can evaluate the amount of respirable dust and the level of diesel particulate matter that is present, and then improve your health and safety program or create a new one that meets the required standards.
2. Environmental Evaluation and Improvement
Industrial hygiene professionals are also skilled in assessing the environmental conditions of a workplace. Not only can they evaluate the levels of air pollutants, but they can also look into other factors, such as noise, temperature, humidity, lighting quality, and ventilation.
After conducting their assessments, they’ll provide recommendations on how best to control each hazard. For instance, if there’s too much noise due to machinery being used, they may suggest soundproofing solutions or better protective equipment for workers who are exposed to excessive sound levels.
3. Risk Management Consulting Services
These professionals can serve as your occupational health and safety consultants, providing advice on developing effective safety policies, as well as the necessary training to ensure that all staff and visitors understand how to stay safe while working or visiting your premises. They also help you create a risk management plan that outlines what needs to be done in order to reduce the likelihood of an accident or exposure to contaminants.
4. Occupational Hygiene Reports
These experts can write up reports on the current state of your workplace. Their findings, which include sampling results and observations, will help you understand how safe your workplace is and what steps you need to take to improve it.
The reports can also be used in determining whether or not your business is compliant with applicable health and safety regulations.
Invaluable Benefits of Hiring Workplace Hygiene Experts
Hiring a reliable team of occupational hygienists allows you to focus on other aspects of your business. They’ll handle safety and health management, so you can rest assured that all risks are minimized and adequately managed.
Having these professionals by your side also gives you peace of mind that, if anything goes wrong, they know exactly what needs to be done to rectify it. And, since they have been trained specifically for this purpose, they can provide better advice when it comes to identifying problems and implementing solutions.
What’s more, establishing proper workplace hygiene helps improve employee morale and productivity, as workers feel safer knowing that their safety is being taken seriously.
Key Takeaway
One way of ensuring you’ll be receiving all the benefits that hiring occupational hygienists can provide, you should only work with a reputable team of specialist workplace health and safety physicians and professionals. So, take the time to do some research on potential companies and read reviews. By doing so, you can be sure that you’ll be working with people who you can rely on to help look after the well-being of your workers.
For more tips and information that you can use in managing and growing your business, you can check out the rest of our posts!
