Several organizations use employee training to ingrain a culture of safety into the workplace culture. The importance of safety training extends far beyond a new employee’s introduction to the job; it concerns situations where the job or tasks at hand may change, or when working conditions are adjusted. Whether it’s in the construction, medical, hospitality or manufacturing industries, or something else entirely, regular refresher training around health and safety will also help employees remain safe in the workplace and reduce their risk of injury or harm due to hazards. We’ve listed some of the most important reasons for safety training in the workplace.
#1. Company Culture:
When a new employee joins your company, they should be welcomed with an immediate impression that your workplace places a high value on safety and reducing risk. When every employee is working together to reduce hazards and keep the risk of harm to a minimum, it will quickly become ingrained in the culture as a whole. One of the best ways to do this is to have everybody who works for you show their support for safety systems and strategies. Keeping safe should be everybody’s job, from reporting hazards to the relevant authorities, to clearing up items that could pose danger or maintaining workplace machinery and personal protective gear.
#2. Keep Everybody Up to Date:
Safety training isn’t just an important factor in the onboarding process. Regular health and safety training is essential to keep employees at the top of their game, so it’s important to ensure that everybody takes time for refresher courses at least once every few months. In addition, safety training is also essential when an employee’s main tasks or work environment changes, for example, if a new machine is introduced to the production system, or an employee is promoted or moved to a different position which comes with a new set of hazards and dangers. Regularly keeping everybody in your workplace up to date with the latest hazard prevention techniques for their job is essential to maintain a low level of risk.
#3. Improve Employee Satisfaction and Productivity:
Nobody wants to feel unsafe when they come into work and feeling this way can quickly kill any work satisfaction that an employee once had. Nobody should have to spend every day in a workplace where they are fearing for their safety, so ensuring that everybody works together to keep themselves and their colleagues safe at work will lead to a nicer environment. Simply knowing that they are able to get on with their jobs without worrying about unnecessary risks to their health or safety can boost employee satisfaction levels, leading to better productivity at work.
#4. Continuous Learning:
Last but not least, a high priority on workplace safety can lead to continuous learning and development for everybody involved. New and existing employees can learn new health and safety skills, for example, through training for the use of heavy machinery and machine guarding. If any incidents do occur, these can also be treated as a learning opportunity to ensure that the same mistakes are not made a second time.
No matter which industry your company works in, keeping employees safe at work should be a top priority.