No doubt, a safe workplace culture begins with a well-trained and well-informed workforce. In this case, health and safety training for employees is a must for their protection, to minimize the potential risk, and to promote a secure but productive work environment.
With health and safety training, one can develop a positive health and safety environment for its employees. Moreover, by applying the recommended practices, requirements, and resources, you can establish health and safety training that leads to conductivity to productivity. Also, goes to ensure compliance to offer a safe environment to your employees.Â
So, what is health and safety training, what are the types or even what are the best practices? Let’s get to know all the details here.Â
1. What Is Health And Safety Training For Employees?
For any organization or company, no matter whether it’s a large or small firm, health and safety training comes as one of the first priorities. It is a program that helps the employees to learn about specific health and safety knowledge.Â
The training program for health and safety includes all knowledge, skills, and awareness that help the workers protect themselves from any unwanted or unintended incidents. Thus as an employer, one can promote a safe working place.Â
It is not only that. You know the health and safety training program has a direct impact on the reputation and the success of any company or organization.
If you want to know more about occupational health and safety, you can refer to the video below.Â
2. Types Of Health And Safety Training
Now let’s come to the types of health and safety training. Generally, there are different types of workplace health and safety training. It depends on whom you are training and the time of the training being held.Â
However, three types of workplace health and safety training are mostly followed.
- Induction training
- Toolbox talks andÂ
- Refresher training
Let’s check out the details below.Â
2.1 Induction training
It is the type of health and safety training that every new employee must go through. The employer provides induction training during the onboarding process.Â
In this type of training, you familiarize your employees with the workplace, safety policies, specific safe working practices, and procedures.Â
Like safe use of tools, machinery, and equipment, emergency response, first aid, and maintenance of personal protective equipment.
2.2 Toolbox talksÂ
Toolbox talks is an informal workplace safety meeting. Here you intend to communicate vital safety information to employees so that you can promote a positive safety culture.Â
In these talks, you have to focus on the safety topics related to your specific workplace like risk assessments, hazards, health and safety updates, safe systems of work, or new equipment. Â
2.3 Refresher training
When there is the assumption that the existing skills have become outdated or obsolete, refresher training is provided.Â
You can say it like there is advancement of technology or your employees are simply forgetting things.Â
When that happens, ultimately it leads to mistakes and errors. That’s when refresher training is provided to refresh the skills and knowledge of the employee.
3. Why Is Health And Safety Training Important?
It’s a fact that there is no workplace in existence where its workers never have to face health and safety dangers.Â
You know each year, more than one million workers are injured due to workplace-related accidents while more than two hundred individuals die during this time frame. It’s enough to describe why health and safety training is essential.Â
However, let’s check out the good enough reasons below.
3.1 Enhance Employee Safety and Well-being
With health and safety training, employers can get knowledge about identifying hazards and skills for appropriate preventive measures.Â
By gaining those safety protocols, employers can work safely and can maintain a secure work environment.Â
That means this training not only ensures the safety or well-being of the employers and employees but also can reduce accidents, injuries, and illness.Â
3.2 Reduce Potential Compensation Claims
Health and safety training also assists you in reducing the potential compensation claims.Â
As the training helps you to reduce accidents and illness, ultimately, it leads to saving the company from costly legal battles with workers and lifelong support of their families.Â
So, you can say that investing a small amount in health and safety training can prevent tons of costs associated with accidents.
3.3 Legal Responsibilities
It is all related to the law also and has a legal part. No matter what type of company you own or how big and small it is, you have to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal health and safety regulations.Â
There are a number of health and safety regulations that you are bound to follow. Such laws and regulations are-
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 set the duties that employers have towards their employees or employees have towards themselves.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 whose key message is that the employer has to provide training to avoid, assess, and reduce the risk of injury from manual handling.
The Workplace (Health, Safety, and Welfare) Regulations 1992 aim to ensure the health, safety, and welfare needs of all employees.
4. Recommended Practices For Health And Safety Training
Health and safety training is effective in informing the employees about workplace hazards and ways of management so that they can work safely and be more productive for the organization.
As an employer, you should develop a safety training program and offer training to your employees out of the classroom setting like on-the-job training, peer-to-peer training, or worksite demonstrations.
However, below we are going to highlight recommended health and safety training practices by which the employers can convey the best concept of safety.Â
4.1 Provide awareness training of the programÂ
First of all, you need to provide awareness to all your employees, managers, and supervisors about the structure, plans, and procedures of the health and safety program.Â
They must have knowledge about the program so that they can fully participate in implementation.Â
Here you need to provide information to all of them about safety and health policies, goals, procedures, their function, and their responsibilities under the program. Moreover, they should also be aware of their rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.Â
Plus, you need to inform them of the safety and health hazards of the workplace and controls of it. Ensure to use that language and the literary level that each employee can understand.Â
Plus, emphasize the training program that everyone can be involved in and feel comfortable discussing their concerns.Â
4.2 Train about their roles in the programÂ
The managers, and supervisors are responsible for the safety of the workers, yet they also need little training on safety-related concepts and techniques.Â
Through this, they can get benefits from that specific training and may fulfill their leadership in the program.Â
For this, reinforce the knowledge of responsibilities to the employers, managers, and supervisors about the worker’s rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.Â
Train them in the procedures to respond to the reports of worker injuries, illnesses, and incidents.Â
The managers or supervisors should get the fundamental concepts and techniques about the hazards in the workplace and effective ways for the control and prevention of those hazards.Â
4.3 Train employees on their specific rolesÂ
Next is to train the employers about their specific roles so that they incorporate any assigned safety and health responsibilities during their daily activities and routines in the workplace.Â
In this case, instruct the employers on how they can report injuries, illnesses, incidents, and concerns.Â
Instruct their specific roles in the health and safety program like recognition and control of the hazards, incident investigations, participation, or evaluation and improvement of the program. Give them opportunities to ask questions and convey their feedback.Â
4.4 Train the employees on the identification of hazards and managementÂ
Train your employers on hazard identification and control so that they can eliminate the incident of a hazard even before its occurrence.Â
You should train the employees on the techniques to identify the hazards, understand, and recognize the hazards that they can face in their own jobs, or more general ones.Â
Now instruct the concept and practices to control those hazards, how to wear required personal protective equipment, and the proper use of work practice.Â
You should provide any additional training whenever needed like when there are changes in the facilities and whenever a worker is assigned a new task.Â
However, there are specialized training courses which help you to get all about the matter clearly and provide the required training. So, to ensure the best working place as a conscious employer, you can go for the courses.
5. Requirements And Resources For Health And Safety Training
When the matter is about health and safety training for the employees, it is important to know what are the requirements and resources to ensure compliance and promote a safe work environment. In this case, you can apply the OSHA requirements and resources.Â
OSHA provides information on the requirements of employee training and offers the resources that one organization applies to its training program to protect the employers against injuries and illness. So, find it out here.Â
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Training RequirementsÂ
Training resourcesÂ
6. FAQs
At this point of the discussion, we will cover some of the common queries and their answers about the health and safety training for the employees of an organization. Let’s check it out to know more.Â
6.1 How do you train employees for safety?
First, identify the hazards of your workplace and the ways to control those hazards. Select the method for the safety training for the employee, learn the objectives, and know your employees. Get the safety training program prepared and evaluate its effectiveness.Â
6.2 How often do employees need to be trained on safety and health?
You should train your employees about safety and health in the workplace at least once a year. It also goes according to the OSHA standard requirements. But the time period should not exceed 365 days.Â
6.3 What does OSHA say about training employees?
OSHA standards require to train the employees who face hazards in the workplace. The organization has training materials and distributes training grants to the non-profit organization. Moreover, OSHA offers training through authorized centers for education.Â
6.4 How long is safety training good for?
Once the employee has completed the training, they will get the certificate card as confirmation of accomplishment. Although the certificate is indefinite, OSHA advises updating it every three to five years on the most recent laws and safety procedures.Â
7. Final Words
Health and safety training for employees is essential for any workplace and has many far-reaching benefits. It is like the commitment to the employee, as it reduces the risk of unintended accidents, and boosts their morale.Â
Moreover, you can apply the OSHA requirement and resources to train your employees about health and safety to ensure compliance.Â
By promoting health and safety training through compliance and best practices implementation, you can offer a safe work environment, ensure the well-being of the employees, and turn workplace conductivity into productivity.Â