Would you like some suggestions on how you can improve employee parking lot safety at your workplace? Do you know what hazards your employees may encounter when driving, parking and walking through the company parking lot? 

As a business owner, you are legally responsible to maintain a safe work environment for your staff. Employee parking lot safety is essential for business owners to extend the safety of their work environment beyond the office building. Not only will you prevent injuries, but you will also improve the quality of your workplace. 

Common Parking Lot Hazards 

The company parking lot is an extension of the work environment. Therefore, it’s critical to implement safety standards within both your office building and parking lot. Parking lots offer your employees a convenient place to park, but they come with many risks that business owners and employees need to be aware of. 

Thankfully, there are a number of measures employers can implement to mitigate those risks.

Slips and Falls

Although they may seem like minor incidents, slips and falls can cause potentially serious injuries. General maintenance and upkeep of your parking lot’s conditions will decrease tripping hazards. Companies can increase employee parking lot safety by managing these two significant features: 

• Snow and ice removal needs to be assigned to an individual or contractor before winter conditions occur. This way employees can safely travel to and from their vehicle with ease. 
• Broken concrete can impose a serious tripping hazard for employees. Your company parking lot should be regularly inspected for failing concrete and potholes. 

Auto Accidents

Collisions and car accidents are the most common parking lot hazards. No employee ever wants to start or finish the workday with a car accident. The design of your parking lot can be aesthetically pleasing while providing employee parking lot safety. 

Placing concrete blocks at the front of parking spaces helps to prevent drivers from hitting other vehicles, walkways, and buildings. We understand that employees are eager to get home, but speed bumps can provide extra protection from collisions. Installing speed bumps on long straightaways help restrict drivers from accelerating to dangerous speeds.

Slow down drivers even further with stop signs placed around turns, along straightaways, and at crosswalks. Decrease the potential of collisions with pedestrians by incorporating pedestrian signage before crosswalks. Utilizing one-way lanes minimizes driver distraction and speed. 

Theft 

Oftentimes, companies in populated areas experience higher levels of theft. As a business owner, ensure that your employees are comfortable leaving their car in your parking lot during the workday by potentially utilizing surveillance technology. 

Bushes and other surrounding shrubbery can be trimmed away from the lot to increase natural visibility. It’s important to create sightlines from the parking lot to surrounding sidewalks and streets to ensure that anyone can observe incidents and react quickly. You may find that natural surveillance isn’t a feasible option for the location of your business, so investing in a security system is the next best option. 

Security systems of any kind are perfect for ongoing employee parking lot safety monitoring. There is a variety of surveillance and security measures to consider, all with their own unique benefits, including the following:  

• Security personnel. Simply having a uniformed security officer on the grounds of your parking lot can be enough to deter potential criminals. If you decide to take this route, ensure that your security officer can maintain a flexible schedule. Flexible officers will be able to prevent criminals from predicting gaps in security coverage.  
• Emergency phones. In the event of a safety incident, an emergency phone can contact medical help or law enforcement in a timely manner. 
• Closed circuit television (CCTV). CCTV monitors and creates an instant record of incidents such as theft, assault or auto accidents at a constant rate. To be effective, the company parking lot will need appropriate lighting. Security personnel will need to be trained on what to do when an incident occurs.  

Harassment and Assault

With the growing concern of human trafficking, companies need to take serious measures to keeping employees safe as they walk to their vehicles. 

Fencing is a popular option for business owners to ensure employee parking lot safety. Trespassers are more restricted from entering company parking lots when the perimeters are fenced in. Many businesses use slide gates for access control measures—requiring key card access. 

Lighting is one of the most important aspects of employee parking lot safety. The proper use of lighting can reduce the risk of harassment and assault because it improves visibility and eliminates potential hiding places for criminals. Experts suggest that areas in the lot should be illuminated by at least two sources of light. Intensity and uniformity are two major factors that should be taken into consideration when choosing parking lot lighting. 

Parking lots need to be well-lit, but easy on the eyes. Metal halide lighting is popular among many parking lots because it provides bright lighting and prevents eye strain. In order to avoid causing major shadows, make your lighting overlap by placing them in uniform. For added employee parking lot safety, the perimeters can be illuminated as well. 

Improve Your Employee Parking Lot Safety with Canal HR 

Now that you know the necessary precautions to improve your employee parking lot safety, what happens if an employee is injured on work premises? At Canal HR we provide leading workers’ compensation services to help businesses remain compliant with federal and state regulations, while ensuring the health and progress of injured employees. 

Our program offers administrative support for workers’ compensation claims and coverage. Canal HR has a trusted and experienced team of HR professionals to help you from design to processing of your workers’ compensation packages and claims. 

If you’re ready to maintain long-term employee parking lot safety, contact us today to schedule your free consultation.