Training your staff in health and safety measures is extremely important no matter the size of your business. Besides it being a requirement from the government, it can save you lots of trouble and money in terms of reduced insurance premiums, fewer lawsuits, more productivity since your employees know that you care about more than just your profits but their lives too.
Most managers, especially in small businesses, do not care much about health and safety training because the risks are not as obvious as those say in a coal mine or nuclear power plant, but research has shown that the hazard rate in small manufacturing industries doubles that of the larger establishments.
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Besides that, it can be time-consuming; time that could be used to do more work and the cost of doing the entire exercise may not seem worth the trouble. But a business owner could save themselves a ton of problems and even possible jail time by just taking a day off to train his staff.
- Increased productivity
When your workers know that you care enough about them to make sure that they are safe at the workplace they will be motivated to work harder because they feel valued and appreciated. Not only that, but they will be able to save money by pointing out potential safety risks. In addition, there will be fewer absences from the workplace due to injuries and that means you won’t lose money from being understaffed.
“We live in an increasingly digitized world”, says David Rowland, the head of marketing at Effective Software, “and this should be reflected in your health and safety systems. The days of paper-based systems are gone: they are lacking in security, efficiently and are simply not fit for purpose.” This is perhaps why many now recommend using health and safety software to keep track of your business’s needs in this area.
- Cost saving
When you train your staff, you save on insurance premiums, potential legal charges in the event that you are sued for negligence, compensation to the injured or sick, fines from the authorities, and the list goes on. A workforce trained in health and safety looks out for one another and they help to ensure that everyone is keeping the safety rules. Consider attending the osha 10 hour course to make this goal easily achievable.
- Better reputation
Providing health and safety training for your staff shows both them and the public that you care about the business and them. This way, more people are attracted to your products hence an increase in sales but also, good talent will be attracted to your workplace and that means you will have the best labor working for you.
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- Legal protection
Trained staff means legal protection against damages. If you are found guilty of negligence as in the case of those that fail to comply with the law by providing health and safety training, the repercussions can be severe ranging from lawsuits, revoking licenses to even imprisonment. To avoid all this, cover your bases; train your staff in health and safety.
- Retaining staff
Imagine you had new staff to train every week because the ones that previously did that job are out sick, or nursing a backache or dead. The cost of your business would be immense. Now imagine those that are not away sick using your internet to apply for other jobs because they don’t know whether they will have all their fingers by the end of the quarter. All this can be avoided if you train them and put health and safety measures in place. Employees that feel valued are loyal.
