EHS Training Courses For Work Environments

By Christine Wallace


From mere paper cuts to gruesome broken limbs, the place of work can be a potential injury zone for many workers. Although this is well known among employers, they used to shy away from taking them through EHS training courses. The claim was that this investments would not benefit their companies. Debatable, bearing in mind that low working hours from sick leaves hinder company performance.

In the real sense, employers have a lot to gain in taking their employees through these courses. This can be seen in increased performance from decreased sick days off taken by injured workers. Decreased insurance premiums to cover for medical expenses would also highly decrease. It also minimizes the chances of future compensation claims and law suits from grieved parties.

For a company to set up protocols to deal with health and safety risks at the work place, a thorough risk assessment is paramount. All the work facilities, environments and conditions must be assessed to determine the different risks that lurk within the work place. This should be followed by a report that would guide the integration of a set of protocols into the company system to address current risks.

The employees should be sensitized on how to maintain their safety while in their work places. This includes provision of safety materials by the employer. A good example would be the provision of life jackets for boat operators and helmets for construction workers. Workers should also be encouraged to report potential risks and involved in making decisions regarding them.

Newly employed workers in most companies are taken through inductions or work orientations. This helps them adapt to work and start performing at a faster rate. However, some facilitators tend to focus more on issues related to performance, and work etiquette. They disregard the risk assessment reports that could guide them to help newbies avoid losing their fingers or breaking limbs.

In house trainings and workshops would work best for existing workers. However, this would be an expensive venture for the company. They would frequently need to hire someone with the qualifications to conduct the trainings. A good way to get around this is to facilitate one employee to go through the course. The employee would then return and train the rest of the team.

Databases should be established to record reported potential risks and past accidents that have happened. Monthly reports on this will help track the success of the protocols put in place. The reports can also be shared within the office for enhanced awareness of the staff. This will also help in the continuous review and improvement of current protocols.

While EHS training course may take up a substantial amount of company resources, its application is paramount. Furthermore, the cost of the risks avoided through this greatly outweighs its investment. People need to be safe at the work place. Employers who demonstrate care for their employee welfare therefore gain more support from their workers. This leads to enhanced performance and better profits. Every business premise should take into consideration the benefits that comes along with this important undertaking.




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