"Health and safety training" I say', "Groan" I hear.
Few would disagree that mandating health and safety training is a good thing, but many might agree that the frequent repetition of the same old training solutions drives complacency. Sometimes it's even worse, where the training has morphed into a total tick box exercise to ensure legal requirements are covered.
What we need in the UK is to meet our legal obligations, but beyond this generate a meaningful H&S mindset.
In the late 80's (yes I am that old) I spent a very enjoyable 8 years of my career with what then (and perhaps still is) the safest organisation in the world. That organisation was DuPont, a company that has lead the field in H&S since early disaster resulted in blowing up a large number of staff!
Some of their history reads like this:
Safety in the workplace, a long-standing hallmark of the DuPont Company, emerged during the trials of World War I. Being an explosives manufacturer had historically made DuPont more safety conscious than most other manufacturers. Especially significant progress in reducing accidents had been made in the years just prior to the war. However, the influx of tens of thousands of untrained workers into the munitions industry during the war created the potential for disasters. Explosions did occur in several American plants, killing hundreds. During the war DuPont made safety an essential and permanent part of engineering and employee relations. After the war, the new company president, Irénée du Pont, intensified the company's safety consciousness and began to award individual prizes for long accident-free performance. Irénée became a major spokesman for the growing safety movement in America generally. By the 1930s, it was established company policy that safety is just as much a part of industry as any other operating feature (quality and quantity of finished products, efficiency, methods, etc.).
When I worked with DuPont it was said you were safer at work than at home. My overriding impression from that period was that this was true. The other interesting observation was that we didn’t seem to spend hours attending training on H&S matters, instead as suggested above, it was simply an integrated aspect of business life, just like quality, quantity of finished products, efficiency, methods, etc. Safety was ever present in all aspects of work.
When my career moved me on to a different but equally world renown corporate brand (who I will not name) I was for some time shocked by the level of unresolved hazards and near misses. The apparent lack of attention focused on H&S (which had become something of a comfort factor during my DuPont years) seemed astonishing. In short I had moved from an organisation that truly considered safety to be part of everything they did, to another that may have believed they were safety conscious, but in fact were ticking boxes not creating a valued culture of health and safety.
The dilemma brought about by mandating safety training is that the very solution that’s there to support staff and promote safe working becomes over familiar. Perhaps organisations need to be smarter at varying the training products offered, making sure that they are always engaging, relevant and fresh. Then start building a safety culture that is give the same prominence within the organisation as other business initiatives and operations.
So what is your H&S legal training obligation?
- The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 together ensure that employers have legal responsibility to ensure the health and safety at work of all employees. And this includes minimising the risks of illnesses or injuries relating to stress.
- Health and safety policy should address the issue of stress at work and effective risk assessments relating to stress should be carried out and regularly monitored.
- The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (13(2)) require that every employer must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate health and safety training:
- When employment is started.
- Be repeated where risks may be increased due to changes of responsibilities or changes in working practices.
- And that training should; Be repeated on a regular basis, Be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety, Take place during working hours.
- The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that:
- 2. General duties of employers to their employees
- (2:1) It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.
- (2:c) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees;
- (2:e) the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.
- 7. General Duties of employees at work.
- It shall be the duty of every employee while at work -
- (a) to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work.
The Regulations state that training should be provided:
- When employment is started.
- Be repeated where risks may be increased.
- Should be repeated on a regular basis and be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety. Under The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 Manual Handling is taken to include the lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying and movement of anything by hand or bodily force.
- Identifying manual handling risks and knowing how injuries can happen.
- Guidance in good manual handling technique.
- Advice on how mechanical aids can help.
- Whatever the type or size of your company all your employees should have Manual Handling training.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) order 2005 states that the responsible person must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate safety training:
- At the time when they are first employed
- On being exposed to new or increased risks because of:
- Change of responsibilities
- Introduction of new equipment
- Introduction of new technology
- New system of work
- Suitable and sufficient instruction and training on precautions and actions
- Be repeated periodically where appropriate
- Adapted to take account of new or changed risks
- Provided in an appropriate manner to the risk identified
- Takes place during working hours.
The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (13(2)) require that every employer must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate health and safety training:
- When employment is started.
- Be repeated where risks may be increased due to changes of responsibilities or changes in working practices.
- And that training should; Be repeated on a regular basis, Be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety, Take place during working hours.
- The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (12 Conditions of floors and traffic routes) state that:
- (2a) The floor, or surface of the traffic route, shall have no hole or slope, or be uneven or slippery so as to expose any person to a risk to his health and safety;
- (3) So far as is reasonably practicable, every floor in a workplace and the surface of every traffic route in a workplace shall be kept free from obstructions and from any article or substance which may cause a person to slip, trip or fall.
- The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that :2. General duties of employers to their employees.
- (2:1) It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.
- (2:c) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees;
- (2:e) the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.
- 7. General Duties of employees at work.
- It shall be the duty of every employee while at work -
- (a) to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work.
The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (2,4,6,7) require that:
- All employees are provided with adequate health and safety training in the use of any workstation upon which they may be required to work.
- Employees are provided with adequate information regarding all aspects of health and safety relating to their workstations.
- Employers should ensure that work on display screen equipment is interrupted by periodic breaks or changes of activity.
- Employers should perform health and safety risk assessments of workstations.
- The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (13(2)) require that every employer must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate health and safety training.
- When employment is started.
- Be repeated where risks may be increased due to changes of responsibilities or changes in working practices.
- And that training should; Be repeated on a regular basis, Be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety, Take place during working hours.
- Regardless of the size of your company
- Whatever the type or size of your company all your employees who sit at a computer for any part of their working day should have DSE - Display Screen Equipment training.
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 which came into force on 6th April 2012 require that the responsible person (or duty holder) in all non-domestic premises is responsible for ensuring that people who work there or visit the premises are protected against ill-health from exposure to asbestos.
- This includes all non-domestic buildings – industrial, commercial or public buildings – for example offices, schools, hospitals, factories, shops and warehouses.
- The Regulations state that an employer must not undertake work in demolition, maintenance or any other work which exposes or is liable to expose employees to asbestos unless a suitable and sufficient assessment has been carried out and that the assessment has ascertained whether asbestos is present, and if so, what type it is, where it is and its condition.
- The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012Section 10 : INFORMATION, INSTRUCTION and TRAINING stipulates that every employer must ensure that any employee who is liable to be exposed to asbestos is given adequate information, instruction and training so that they are aware of :
- The properties of asbestos and its effects on health, including its interaction with smoking
- The types of products or materials likely to contain asbestos
- The operations which could result in asbestos exposure and the importance of preventative controls to minimise exposure
- Emergency procedures, use of protective equipment, decontamination and asbestos waste handling.
Perhaps your staff have become over familiar with the repetitive nature of meeting your legal health & safety obligations?
This often happens resulting in a lacklustre user experience and a sense of 'going through the motions'. There is a significant danger with this; it reduces the level of learning that takes place within the organisation. Using our interactive health & safety eLearning courses you will deliver fresh and current learning that will engage your staff and enable a richer learning outcome. That means you will meet your legal requirements, generate increased user interest and most importantly make your staff more safe.
Arrange a free demo of our leading Health & Safety eLearning solutions from only £3 per person per course.
