No matter how small or large a company is, workers in all fields of industry face workplace dangers that can threaten their health and safety. As hazards are present in all types of industries, it’s essential for companies to provide health and safety training for their workers and to update this knowledge on a regular basis.
Educating workers on the basics of occupational health and safety can help reduce workplace accidents and injuries.
Apart from the obvious legal and financial benefits that come with giving health and safety instruction to employees, businesses can also enjoy enhanced productivity and satisfaction among personnel by keeping the workplace safe. It’s important to note that employees in a safe work environment can focus better on their tasks, simply because they do not have to worry as much about their personal safety.
5 Benefits of Health and Safety Training
- Reduced Insurance Premiums
Proving that you have employees who are trained in Health and Safety issues will reduce your insurance premiums because it means you are less likely to have accidents which in turn means less likely to have claims against the business. Not only that, but the actions taken to prevent injury or illness will mean those premiums stay low because no claims are made.
- Enhanced Reputation
If an employee feels that they are looked after, they will tell people. You’ll then have more competition for employment – and more people buying your products.
- Increased Productivity
A staff member who experiences H&S issues at work may not always have the confidence or awareness to raise it as an issue. Instead, they may suffer in silence and work more slowly than usual.
Action taken to ensure employees are trained and protected from H&S issues in the workplace will mean that they have the resources to be as productive as possible.
- Reduced Absence
A manager who is trained in Health and Safety practices will be able to reduce accidents, illness and absence. For example, knowledge of health and safety risk assessment and implementing control measures could prevent accidents and causing lost time of employees.
- Legal Protection Against Damages
The cost and time spent on health and safety training and measures are tiny when compared to the potential damages from a workplace accident or work-related ill health.
If you don’t have the following in place, you could be at risk of damaging legal action and heavy fines:
- Do you have detailed and accurate records of your staff’s health and safety training?
- Do all your staff receive the same level of training on all issues?
- Are your staff aware of the risks in their environment, whether it be in the office, factory, working at home or out and about?
- Have you trained your staff in correct manual handling techniques?
- Have you provided training on how to correctly use a PC and display screen equipment?
- Do your staff really know what to do in the event of a fire or emergency evacuation?
- Does everybody understand when they should be wearing personal protective equipment?
- If there was a spillage would your staff know what to do?
These are just a few of the topics that we provide health and safety training on.
How ProAktive can help you meet your legal requirements for training
At ProAktive we understand that your employees can be your greatest assets and one of the best ways to maintain a competent and engaged workforce is through training and development.
Face-to-Face Training
ProAktive can provide several classroom-based training courses.
- IOSH Managing Safely
- IOSH Leading Safely
- IOSH Working Safely in Construction
- IOSH Managing Safely Refresher 1 Day
- H&S Essentials Training
- Fire Safety for Managers
E-Learning
ProAktive can also provide several e-learning courses to assist you in meeting your legal requirements.
We are partnering with Highfield, an award winning provider of online courses. Our interactive e-learning portal provides an engaging and highly effective way of training. By using a combination of live action video, text, voice over and interactive tests we can deliver a highly powerful training tool.
If you would like further advice, please contact the ProAktive Health and Safety team on 01302 341 344, or why not take a look at our e-learning website.
By Chris Longden – Risk Consultant