Running a business in 2025 requires ensuring the physical safety of your employees and implementing strong cybersecurity measures. Without physical and cyber security, you’re leaving yourself open to liability.
If you own a business and want to improve its safety, check out our guide below on maintaining a proactive safety culture.
Ensure Your Buildings Are in Good Repair
Businesses that operate physical premises must regularly conduct risk assessments that assess potential hazards and vulnerabilities. Many workplace injuries and illnesses arise from the failure to identify or anticipate hazards. Previous cases of injuries, illnesses, and close calls should serve as the basis for determining the causes of underlying hazards and health and safety shortcomings.
All emergency stop switches should be tested for businesses that operate on-site machinery to ensure they function correctly. Extension cords laid across walkways that employees could trip over, as well as other simple hazards, should be fixed as they are found. Fostering a culture that quickly addresses hazards will teach everyone to look out for their physical safety at work and reduce the likelihood of accidents.
Prioritize Employee Comfort
Employees should be safe and comfortable while working in your buildings so they can focus on their tasks. Set the thermostat in the range of 68-76°F and ensure good indoor air quality that controls indoor and outdoor pollutants, supplies fresh outdoor air, and regulates temperature and humidity.
Employees working at desks or workstations should have good lighting, with overhead and task lighting from lamps, to avoid eye strain. In addition to physical considerations, employees should benefit from a positive work environment. Your teams should show appreciation for each other, accept different ways of working, have open and transparent dialogues, and set boundaries and expectations.
Maintaining Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is just as important as physical safety for modern businesses. All staff should use strong passwords for their online accounts and multi-factor authentication for an extra layer of security. Password managers can help employees manage and create complex passwords in centralized software. Train your employees on cyber threats, such as recognizing suspicious emails and verifying phishing awareness.
Update all your business software and apps regularly to patch security vulnerabilities, and apply the same practices to devices. You should also frequently back up your data on secure cloud platforms or external drives and develop recovery plans to keep the business running in case of a breach.
Security Systems For Your Premises
Your physical work offices and warehouses should be safe from unauthorized entry and criminal damage. All doors, windows, and other entry points should have high-quality locks and be linked to alarmed security systems.
Ensure CCTV covers all of the outdoor areas of the premises without blind spots, indoor entrances and exits, high-risk areas like storage rooms, and common areas like hallways. Position cameras above doors, away from light sources, for clear views of who is exiting and entering the area to deter potential criminal acts and vandalism.
