Why should I be interested in Health and Safety?
Health and Safety is an important part of any business. Health and Safety regulations are designed to protect employees, employers and the public from harm arising from activities undertaken at work.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is the main Act which Health and Safety regulations follow.
The Act has certain basic requirements:
- Employers must provide, as far as is reasonably practicable, a healthy and safe workplace
- Employers should not only take care of their employees, but also take care of any other visitors visiting the workplace. This includes contractors, visitors and, if applicable, paying customers
- Site operators should prevent, as far as is reasonably practicable, the emission of any toxic substances into the atmosphere
- Employees must co-operate with their employer with regards to health and safety, and must take reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of themselves and others
The regulations that sit under the Act all follow a similar pattern:
- Assess the risk
- Implement controls to reduce the risks
- Educate and train workers
- Provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when all other appropriate measures have been undertaken
- These regulations cover areas such as the Manual Handling Operations Regulations.
Health and Safety is here to make all of our lives safer, and employers and employees alike should embrace the laws.
Health and Safety eLearning - so how does it work?
It is an efficient, cost effective and powerful method of conveying key Health & Safety data across to hundreds or even thousands of staff.
Some companies are cautious about embracing Health and Safety eLearning because they have a culture that is accustomed to face to face training. This is totally understandable. Where eLearning can be highly effective for businesses with this type of culture is as part of a blended approach to training. A combination of face to face and eLearning can work very well and is a step by step approach to changing the culture of the employees and the business.
eLearning can also be used to help organisations identify high risk employees that may require more intensive face to face training. By training and testing online, an organisation can quickly identify individuals that may be having some difficulty understanding what is required or may present a higher risk because of their working practices or job role.
By editing the online courses to make them more applicable to the workplace, employees are more likely to engage with the training and absorb the information. The EssentialSk**z (www.essentialsk**z.com) LMS enables clients to replace images, add links and amend text, at no extra cost. Another step is to fully brand the eLearning so that employees feel that the training is being provided by their employer and not a third party.
Online training does not have to be daunting or a huge shock to a company culture. Health and Safety eLearning can be gradually introduced into a company and the benefits can be significant.