In most workplaces, employees will need to use a variety of tools in order to do their job. Whether that’s accountants using laptops or plumbers using blowtorches, it’s crucial that you take certain measures to ensure these tools are kept in good condition.
Unnecessary equipment damage is an avoidable economic burden, but it also makes it more difficult for your employees to do their jobs. Here, we take a look at some solutions you can adopt to help reduce equipment damage in the workplace, from asset access control to employee training.
Perhaps the single most effective equipment damage reduction solution you can implement is some form of access control. A lot of equipment damage in the workplace is the result of non-authorised use, often by people who don’t fully understand how to use the equipment safely.
By investing in an access control solution from a provider such as Traka, you can limit who has access to vulnerable assets, minimising the chances that they’re used in an unsafe manner. This can also have a positive impact on safety in some contexts, such as in construction.
While it’s important to be able to control who has access to valuable assets in the workplace, this alone isn’t sufficient as a standalone approach. You also need to be able to track who in your organisation has used certain pieces of equipment, especially in larger organisations.
This is important for a couple of reasons. First, it makes it possible to see who is responsible for any damage that is caused by authorised users. Second, it makes it more likely that employees will be more careful, given that they know they can easily be held accountable for any damage they cause.
Equipment will also inevitably become damaged if it isn’t properly maintained. You need to make sure that you’re able to track when your assets were last serviced and how frequently and for which tasks they’ve been used, in order to make sure they’re properly taken care of.
In most cases, it’s most effective to have some kind of automated maintenance tracking solution. This will reduce the administrative burden while also making it less likely that important maintenance dates are missed.
Lastly, the people using this equipment on a day-to-day basis will be the most effective at reducing equipment damage. It’s important that you provide adequate training on how to use pieces of equipment, how to spot potential issues, and how to maintain them.
If your workers know how to use these assets, and know potential issues to look out for, it vastly increases the chances that they’ll be able to avoid incidental damage.
Reducing equipment damage in the workplace isn’t always easy, but it is always worth the effort. You’ll help increase the safety of your employees, while also increasing operational efficiency and reducing unnecessary repair and replacement costs. By using the solutions listed above, you should be able to achieve your damage reduction goals without too much difficulty at all.