Why Health And Safety Training Is For Everyone

By Author: Mohammed Banks
Total Articles: 2
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Health and safety training has always been important, not just because it’s a legal responsibility, but because it helps you look after staff, clients and customers. People sometimes forget that it can benefit a business by reducing the number of working days lost due to illness and accidents. Instead of thoroughly researching what options are available, managers often pick the first training package they can find without really thinking about it.

The problem is that companies often choose the wrong training. Legal regulations don’t stipulate exactly what training you have to provide, so why do something boring and irrelevant? Stuffy lectures and time consuming off-site workshops should be a thing of the past. Online or computer based courses are a much better solution as they’re interactive, engaging and much more customisable. Before you even look for training, you should decide what your company needs. With computers, laptops and tablets everywhere these days, Display Screen Equipment (DSE) training is one of the most important aspects. Sore eyes, shoulders and wrists are extremely common, but can be avoided ...
... if the workspace is set up correctly and frequent breaks are taken. Virtually all companies use IT, so this is relevant to everyone.

Stress awareness training is also increasing in popularity, as stress is now the biggest cause of lost working days. Other areas to consider include fire awareness training, manual handling and the prevention of slips, trips and falls. As the regulations state, “every employer must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate health and safety training”. It’s important to figure out what that means for you. Of course, you don’t have to do it alone. Many training providers will give advice on what courses they recommend and some offer free trials and evaluations of their products. With online courses, you can view the materials to see if they match up with your requirements, not just in terms of the content, but to see if they are enjoyable and well put together.

In-house training with an external speaker and courses off-site can both be useful, but it is worth considering the extra cost and inconvenience these involve. Although getting all your employees together can be good in terms of getting them to interact, it can also cause problems. Someone might be ill and miss the training, and at the very least you need to find a time when everyone is available. Online and computer based training (from CD ROMs) is cheaper and infinitely more flexible. Staff work through it at their own pace and the software will record assessment results so you can keep track of who’s done what. Don’t think of your health and safety training as something done just for the sake of it. Make sure it is tailored to your needs so you can really look after your staff. They are your biggest asset, after all.

iHasco are providers of online and computer based health and safety courses. Whether you need Display Screen Equipment training or more awareness how stress can affect your staff, iHasco can help. They allow potential customers to evaluate their products for free, so you can be sure you are getting just what you need.
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