Business Safety Tips: Professional Service, Realty & Offices

Protecting Employees

Do you:

• Have a written Hazard Communication program
• Provide training on your Company's Hazard Communication Program
• Have evacuation procedures in place and post evacuation routes that maps a safe exit from our building to the outside
• Have a safe place for assembly in an emergency and roll call procedures
• Educate your employees about repetitive strain injuries and techniques to minimize these injuries  

Protecting Property

Do you:

• Provide portable ULC listed fire extinguishers in accordance with provincial fire code regulations
• Train employees on the use of extinguishers
• Have extinguishers inspected by qualified personnel on an annual basis and document service records
• Assign a designated employee, as well as a backup, the duty of calling the fire dept in case of an emergency.
• Ensure that all non critical electrical equipment are turned off when the premises are unoccupied
• Ensure that power points are never overloaded with multiple adaptors
• Avoid the use of portable heaters with naked flames or radiant hot surfaces
• Ensure that combustible goods are not stored near heaters Ensure that smoking on the premises controlled to a designated external area and ash trays provided
• Keep outside areas free of combustible material and keep combustible trash in lockable bins to avoid fire by vandals
• Back up data and programs on a regular basis and store backup data offsite at a secure location
• Protect your electronic equipment against power spikes using surge protection or UPS

Minimizing Crime Losses

Do you:

• Ensure that all external doors are fit with deadlocks and that all locking devices are in good working order
• Provide locking pins on exterior door hinges
• Ensure that your premises are protected by burglar alarm hooked up to a central station approved by your insurance company
• Limit the access to your alarm entry code
• Change your alarm code periodically
• Ensure that the perimeter of your premises are adequately lit at night
• Ensure that ladders are not left lying around outside your building
• Have a system in place for inventory control of electronic equipment
• Have procedures in place for the protection of laptops 
• Supervise access to bank accounts and bank deposits
• Make frequent bank deposits and never leave large amounts of cash on site overnight
• Reconcile bank account records frequently
• Provide protection for your artwork

Minimizing Law Suits

Do you:

• Ensure that fire exits are kept free and clear
• Ensure that all fire exit doors are kept in proper working order
• Ensure that exit lights, emergency lights and fire alarms and exit doors are always functioning properly
• Ensure that sidewalks are maintained in good working condition and free of obstruction
• Ensure that parking lot perimeters are marked, pedestrian walkways are marked with traffic controls and directional signals used
• Ensure that parking lots and walkways are cleared of snow and ice during the winter months
• Ensure that your snow removal contractor carry adequate limits of insurance
• Ensure exterior stairs with more than three steps are equipped with handrails
• Ensure that parking lots are well lit
• Use protective screens over outdoor light fixtures
• Fill holes on side walks and in parking lots
• Clearly mark wet areas and isolate traffic from problem areas
• Keep aisles free and clear
• Level uneven boards and fill holes in flooring promptly and ensure that floor coverings are properly installed
• Mark large areas of glass
• Have a spill cleanup procedure and that all employees are familiar with it, do you keep a log   
• Document all incidents and keep an incident report log