Keep health and safety at the top of your agenda

Taking a common sense approach to health and safety is something businesses are bound by law to do. Failing to take precautions can cause significant damage to your operations, some of which might not be reversible.

Safe Work Australia has urged business owners to focus on health and safety all-year round, rather than bringing to the forefront of their minds whenever an accident or near miss occurs. Figures from the group show in the 2012-13 financial year, a total of 117,815 serious claims were made for work-related injuries, diseases and fatalities.

This equates to an incident rate of 11.1 serious claims for every 1,000 workers, which can lead to significant financial pay outs, as well as reputational loss and damage.

Effectively managing risk

Safe Work Australia recommends that employers regularly carry out risk assessments on their premises. This will identify any shortfalls in safety standards and give companies a benchmark for making further improvements.

"There is strong evidence that businesses who manage their risks well, including their health and safety risks, perform better financially," said Ann Sherry, chair of Safe Work Australia.

It's not only employees who need to feel well protected when they're at work. Any customers, clients or other individuals entering the premises also have a legal right to have their safety maintained.

If your premises poses a risk of physical injury, then it's possible you could need to make a claim on your business liability insurance. Speak to an agent about making sure you have sufficient cover in place.

Safe Work Australia believes business owners should think ahead about what might go wrong, before putting safeguards in place to prevent it from happening. These measures should be "reasonably practicable" for the risk they have identified. It is also a good idea to find out more about what protection business insurance can offer.