Every year, thousands of workers are injured and killed in accidents at the workplace. Some workers even get disabled or inflict diseases caused by, or made worse by, their work. This happens because factories, construction sites, and other workplaces have several safety hazards. These potential workplace hazards are not only dangerous for employees but can put your business in jeopardy. So, preventing work-related accidents should be a key priority for every business.
Organizations must incorporate safety training programs to ingrain safety into the workplace culture. This safety training helps prevent accidents and develops a positive health & safety culture. Moreover, the safety training program also helps meet legal compliance to protect the health & safety of your employees.
What is Workplace Safety Training?
Workplace safety training is a process that involves educating and training the staff with the help of instructions and guidelines to identify potential risks, report them, and deal with incidents. Training involves several techniques to teach people how to do something. It informs people what they should or should not do. Regarding workplace safety training, the goal is to inform and train workers about how to perform their work to be safe for them and their co-workers. However, unlike formal ‘classroom’ courses, training programs may also include practical skills.
Employee orientation training gives instructions to new employees about how to do their jobs safely and efficiently. It aims to make employees more vigilant to recognize safety hazards and take prompt action.
Importance of Workplace Safety Training
Every year, thousands of workplace deaths are reported due to a lack of proper safety training. Developing a training matrix is necessary for companies to stay legally compliant and keep their employees safe. As per OSHA regulations, businesses with safety hazards should have safety training integral to their employee onboarding process. Employers should also provide regular “refresher” courses for compliance and create a safer environment. So, employers’ legal and moral responsibility is to instruct workers about performing a job safely and healthily.
Besides legal and moral obligations, safety training is important to maintain productivity. The time spent on safety training doesn’t go wasted. It can save your company time and money. Workplace accidents result in significant downtime. Moreover, it takes a lot of money on medical bills, higher insurance premiums, employee absence or replacement, equipment damage, and lawsuits. So, a proper workplace safety training program offers many benefits such as higher employee satisfaction, lower insurance premiums, prevention of productivity loss due to illness or injury, no liability lawsuits, saving money on worker compensation, and more.
