Maintaining SAFETY & HEALTH at Workplace: Employee Training Matters!

Employees who don't receive adequate work-related safety & health training, ergonomics and musculoskeletal disorders training and first-aid training may have difficulty meeting safety performance standards. While some of the workers may be self-motivated and take it upon themselves to learn how to do their jobs better, others may not have this kind of initiative. As a result, they may end up learning by trial and error or by imitating co-workers of varying levels of competency.

Failure to train your employees properly doesn't just impact individual employees, it can also create risks for your entire company or business. Mistakes made by your employees can result in lawsuits, fines and, in some cases, charges of criminal negligence.

Here are some examples of how lack of safety & health training can result in legal liability and public relations disasters for your company:

• A poorly trained employee may fail to uphold stringent Occupational Safety and Health regulations or standards in your workplace, leading to a serious accident that injures multiple employees. 
• A customer service representative for your health care supplies business who doesn't understand the basics of health care privacy laws discloses a customer's health condition to a third party while delivering a telephone message.
• A manager or a head of department who doesn't understand federal or state anti-discrimination laws refuses to offer a reasonable accommodation to foreign workers.

Unfortunately, many businesses don't have the resources to fight a lengthy court battle, manage a public relation crisis, or withstand multiple investigations by a government agency. Ensuring that workers receive proper training protects not only your investment in your employees but also your business itself.

Some forms of workplace accident are industry-specific, and if you work in an office environment, you are unlikely to have any employees fall victim to radioactive exposure. But it is important to understand exactly the sorts of hazards that can be present in your kind of workplace so that measures can be taken to protect against them. Workplace accidents tend to fall into these SEVEN categories:

• Organisational – caused by poor workplace practices, i.e. fatigue, harassment
• Chemical – caused by exposure to chemical solids, liquids or gases, i.e. burns, fumes
• Physical – caused by exposure to harsh conditions, i.e. radiation, extreme temperature
• Biological – caused by exposure to organic matter, i.e. bodily fluids, mould or fungi
• Ergonomic – caused by heavy manual handling processes, awkward postures or repetitive motions.
• Safety – caused by unsafe working conditions, i.e. spills, trips, work at height
• Psycho-social - caused by current or new lifestyles, COVID-19 pandemic, mental stress.

Safety and health related training for employees must be able to address these above mentioned topics. Investing in the training and development of lower-level employees is DEFINITELY a real challenge to any business. Some businesses have trouble finding the resources to do so. Employees on the front lines are some of your hardest workers, and may not have the time to take a training course.

Abdul Shukor (Email: [email protected])

26th January 2021.