Health and safety is very important for all kinds of businesses, but especially in the printing industry with all of its associated risks and hazards. So, if you run a printing business or even if you have a dedicated printing department within your company, you need to pay attention to a few health and safety basics.

Risk Assessment

Every printing business must carry out a risk assessment, to find out what is unhealthy or unsafe in the workplace. Risks must be placed in priority order and steps must be taken to reduce or remove them. The kind of action you may need to take could include implementing new training for staff, removing dangerous obstacles, ordering new safety equipment and fixing any safety issues.

Access

It is very important for your employees to be able to access all parts of the workplace safely. This is why you need to:

• Clear walkways of printer paper stock, ink and toner cartridges, waste materials and storage equipment

• Clean up spillage, excess product and waste materials right away

• Ensure there is enough storage space for all supplies and stock, so that work areas are kept clear

• Provide enough lighting to illuminate all work areas

• Carry out regular inspections of work areas to identify hazards and risks

Electrical issues

There are many things you need to do to ensure your electrical systems are safe to use. Measures include installing emergency stop buttons on machinery, using portable safety switches and using only licensed electricians for electrical work.

Employees

You need to do all you can to protect your employees from harm whilst at work. This is why you need to train them properly on everything from how to correctly use colour laser printers to how to operate heavy machinery.

Hazardous substances

Printing businesses are more likely than others to use chemicals and hazardous substances. To make the working environment safe, you need to:

• Dispose of waste products (i.e. used inkjet cartridges) properly

• Ensure there is adequate ventilation in the workplace

• Store toner and other chemicals in a safe and fireproof storage solution

• Label all substances properly