Every business owner realizes just how important employees are to their company. Employees are truly the backbone of the business, and without them, success wouldn’t be possible. But here’s the thing, productive and efficient employees don’t happen by accident. It involves a rigorous recruitment and hiring process, and then effective workplace training. In fact, one could argue that workplace training is just as important as the hiring process, if not more important.
If a workplace training program hasn’t exactly been on your radar, it’s time to think again. These can act as a guide not just for the employees but the staff or department training them, making sure nothing gets missed or overlooked, that content is presented in a thorough manner, and that everyone is on the same page. With that said, let’s take a look at how you can create an effective safety training program, which is a good place to start.
Look Into Mandatory Requirements on Safety Training
A good place to start is by looking into what mandatory safety training topics your program should address. This will depend on the industry your company resides in, the type of workplace, the work being done, and the materials/tools being used. For example, safety training on a construction site will be very different than safety training in an office environment.
You can refer to OHSA’s annual requirements in regards to training, which are federal training requirements. It covers specific regulations as well as General Industry Standards such as portable fire extinguishers, hazardous waste operations, and occupational noise exposure.
What are the Specific Safety Goals of the Company?
Now it’s time to ask yourself what the specific safety goals and objectives are in the workplace. You are aware of the mandatory requirements, but what additional practices should be put in place that will address your specific safety goals? It’s about taking safety training to the next level and bolstering it even more.
Put the Training Program into Writing
As you start to form the training program, it will need to be put down in writing. This is to the advantage of you the business owner, the person/department responsible for conducting the training, and the employees. It gives everyone something tangible to refer to, a blueprint of all the safety steps they need to take, and acts as that reference guide. This program can then be circulated to staff.
When writing the program you need to be sure you’re addressing all safety concerns of course, but do so in a manner that doesn’t leave anything open to question and doesn’t create confusion. The program needs to be extremely concise. You may even want to hire outside help to write the training program if you don’t have staff that can do it in-house.
Safety Training and Safety Learning Activities Must Be Included
Of course, writing a concise and thorough safety training program is only half the battle; now it needs to be communicated to employees. Simply distributing the document isn’t enough. Instead, you will need to conduct hands-on safety training and safety learning activities. This shouldn’t be a one-off event either, as safety measures and protocols should be fluid, meaning they change and evolve based on the current needs of the company. Each time a new practice or step is needed, training needs to be conducted.
This kind of training is just as important to new employees as it is for those who have been working there years, as a little reminder or reinforcement can prove quite helpful.
An Effective and Useful Training Program
By following each of these steps, you’ll be able to create an effective and useful training program.
