It’s still a frequent misconception in a significant amount of companies that, by providing employees with some education in occupational health & safety, they have all the skills needed to prevent an incident. The truth of the matter is that, regardless your industry, an education in safety regulations and risk asessment just isn’t enough. You need to provide your staff with appropriate supervision, the proper equipment, and the opportunity to practice.
An employee in a supervisory job has a larger function to play than just managing the work area. Your choice of supervisor has to be a skilled communicator and see health & safety training as fundamental. On top of insuring compliance with health & safety regulations, a supervisory role includes overseeing employee performance levels too. This is not a easy undertaking. An effective supervisor needs to have an in-depth understanding of the business and production as well as a very high level of knowledge of the latest regulations involving safety, risk appraisal and CPR. It just is not sufficient to simply send your employees on a health & safety training program. They have to gain practical experience of risk assessment and the identification of hazards. Employees in addition need to develop insights into the necessary precautions that they are required to put in place not to mention how to act when disaster strikes. Not until these procedures become second nature are workers properly prepared. The right safety equipment is just as vital to the your staff’s well being as the training itself. Without the proper equipment or should workers discover that items are not functioning correctly only after an emergency has happened, all the education in the world can’t help them. It is vital to examine all your apparatus on a regular basis to verify that all the necessary equipment is there and also that everything is being properly looked after. If an item is in poor order, ensure it is fixed or call out a maintenance professional as soon as you can.
Your workforce need to get good health and safety instruction, but in addition they require good quality gear, the chance to practise, and a supervisor who has the kind of enthusiasm that people find contagious. And then complying with health & safety legislation will before long be ingrained in your business culture not something for staff to remember.
