As days shorten, keep an eye on your staff’s safety

As you prepare to switch your clocks from daylight saving time to standard time, the implications are sudden and immediate: What was once the sunny late afternoon will soon look more like the evening.

Staff and students attending extracurricular activities after school will soon find themselves in almost complete darkness when it’s time to head home. Additionally, as the days get shorter, staff may arrive at work while it’s still dark.

The following are some effective ways you can deter criminal activity and potentially protect staff members from work-related injuries involving a lack of lighting:

1. Assess coverage of outdoor lights. When it’s dark outside, assess whether the lighting is sufficient for each property. You may find illumination is not sufficient because of tree or shrubbery growth.
2. Replace any broken or burned-out lights. During that assessment, staff or your lighting contractor should also check to make sure each light is functioning properly and adequately illuminates the area.
3. Ask employees to adhere to a “buddy system.” Whenever possible, staff should avoid walking out to a dark parking lot alone. Encourage them to plan their exits so they are leaving with someone else, or find someone in the building who can see them out.
4. Consider crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). This approach to security focuses on natural surveillance and natural access control. Natural surveillance refers to making your grounds as visible as possible. Make sure shrubs and trees are planted so they don’t block visibility from, say, the front door to the farthest corner of the parking lot. Use the 3-7 rule, which indicates shrubs should not be taller than three feet, and no branches or leaves below seven feet on trees. Natural access control involves planting shrubs and trees strategically to encourage people to walk along certain paths.
5. Don’t forget about lighting on the inside of your building. Staff members may not realize how much they rely on natural lighting until the days shorten, and suddenly areas that were illuminated are now dim and could present fall hazards. In particular, focus on lower-level spaces such as the boiler room, maintenance garages and storage spaces.

The best way for administrators to learn about potentially unsafe situations is through their staff. Make it easy for your staff to alert you of potential risks and be sure to quickly follow through with mitigation.

Check out these resources for more risk control tips to keep your employees safe