Why Invest in Health and Safety Training?

Some say health and safety training has gone mad, but the reality of it is that since the intervention of the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) and other authorities in the industry there has been an improvement of the safety of workers in their workplace.

In the UK, all employers are bound by the Health and Safety at Work Act which places the responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of their employees on their shoulders. This will involve carrying out risk assessments, ensuring that there is as little risk as possible to their workers while they are carrying out the tasks asked of them, providing workers with the correct and well-maintained equipment and also to correctly educate and train them in certain areas so that when they are working, they know how to manage themselves and the tasks they are working on.

As the implementation of the Health and Safety regulations falls into the hands of the employer, or the staff member overseeing the operation if you do not train your staff properly by placing them on health and safety training courses, there is a chance that you could be fined or penalised from the authorities. These fines can reach hundreds of thousands of pounds as the authorities are trying to force companies into providing the right health and safety precautions for their staff members. And it's important to remember that this fine will be on top of any compensation that they have to pay out following a personal injury claim - something that is very likely to happen if someone is injured in the workplace because of negligence on their employer's part.

As well as conforming to the regulations, training will also make your employees feel valued, and training them in different areas can be very rewarding for them which will increase morale and therefore productivity. If someone is confident in what they are doing, it's more likely that they will do it well, which is a feeling health and safety can provide. There are a number of different areas you might think about training your employees in, and depending on your industry will determine which courses are better for you. There are a number of general workplace health and safety training courses which can cover a broad range of subjects, or more specific courses which pinpoint different areas e.g. working at height, manual handling, risk assessments, specific equipment courses.

Investing in health and safety training could be a massive boost to your business, incentivising your employees, preventing accidents and also big fines or compensation law suits. It is your duty as an employer to make sure you're workers are safe, and it is important to stick to it!

Shirley Parsons is writing on behalf of Britannia Health and Safety Training, a company offering Health and Safety Training in Norwich, Norfolk. With over 6000sq feet of indoor training facilities available to them it is perfect for these height training courses which will run come rain or shine.

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