Office Supply Safety

Office supplies are crucial for any office or workplace. Office supplies can vary from pens to paper to notebooks to staplers to paperclips to computers and printers. Office supplies can also vary from workplace to workplace and even be specialist. Specialist in office furnitures can include hard hats for construction workers, stethoscopes and syringes for doctors and nurses and gym wear for athletes.

Office supplies vary and sometimes you have to be careful when you use them. Injuries are possible even with office supplies of any shape and size. That’s where office supply safety comes in.

For example with paper you can get paper cuts. With staplers and staple removers you can small cuts. With ergonomic chairs Melbourne you can fall off them or slip off. When you buy heavy office equipment (laptops, printers and 3D printers for example) and you are carrying it, you might drop it. You might decide to change the flickering light bulb above your desk and the light bulb may be hot and you might burn yourself or get a little spark. 

The list of possibilities, as unlikely as they may seem can go on and on. You may think that injuries from office supplies are highly unlikely to happen, however they are possible considering that every employee uses some sort of office supplies every day. 

It is due to these scenarios that safety officers exist in all workplaces. If any workplace accident or incident happens where you are injured or hurt, even if you have a small paper cut or feel fine, you are obligated to report it to your safety officer.

Your workplace should also have a first aid kit as well as a safety officer. The workplace first aid kit should include various items to be able to help in almost any scenario of office injury or illness. Some first aid kits can include items such as band-aids, bandages, antiseptic wipes, dressings, gloves, Burnaid gels, ice packs and many more items.

With certain office supplies, the workplace safety policy may include having specialists install certain supplies or equipment. For example with lights whether they are small light bulbs for desk lamps or LED panel lights for the roof usually the boss will hire an electrician to install them. With printers, Xerox machines and any other bulky office items may be installed by the people who delivered them. With any computer delivery or installation, especially with cables and cords, an IT expert will usually be hired to install them.

In Australia there are federal and state workplace safety laws to protect employees from any kind of injury, whether they are caused by office supply mishaps or otherwise. If you want or need to find more information on workplace safety laws you should talk to your boss/employer, your safety officer or you can research online.