Injuries Cost Businesses however, Safety Programs Save Money
Have you ever thought about how much a workplace injury costs your business?
OSHA’s $afety Pays tool is an online calculator. This tool uses current data on workplace injury costs to calculate the direct and indirect costs to your business. This helpful resource emphasizes the importance of having an organized safety program. The results may surprise you.
Whether you are a small start-up, an established business, or just ready to start managing safety in a more responsible way, there are some simple steps you can take. Completing these steps will give you a solid base to begin your safety program.
Communicate to your workers that making sure they go home safely is the top priority. Assure them that you will work with them. Proactively find and fix any hazards that could injure employees. Practice safe behaviors yourself. Make safety part of your daily conversations with workers.
Develop and communicate a simple procedure for workers to report all injuries, illnesses, and incidents. Furthermore, hazards or safety and health concerns should be easily reported without fear of retaliation. Additionally, it is profitable to provide an option for reporting concerns anonymously. It is especially important to include near misses/close calls.
Train workers on how to identify and control hazards in the workplace. Inspect the workplace with workers for the purpose of asking them to identify any activity, piece of equipment, or materials that concern them. Also, be sure to use checklists to help identify problems.
Ask workers for ideas on improvements and follow up on their suggestions. Coupled with providing time to research solutions. Assign workers the task of choosing, implementing, and evaluating the solutions they come up with. Whenever possible, identify foreseeable emergency scenarios. Then, follow up by developing instructions on what to do in each case. Finally, meet to discuss these procedures and post them in a visible location in the workplace.
Finally, set aside a regular time to discuss safety and health issues, with the goal of identifying ways to improve and effectively implement the program.
Heat illness is preventable, even though Millions of U.S. workers are exposed to heat in their workplaces. Every year, thousands become sick from occupational heat exposure. Some cases are fatal. Most outdoor fatalities, 50% to 70%, occur in the first few days of working in hot environments. This is because the body needs to build a tolerance to the heat gradually over time. Lack of acclimatization is a major risk factor for fatal outcomes. However, illness from exposure to heat is preventable.
Since 2011, a focus on keeping workers safe while working in the heat has made great progress. However, there is still significant work to be done. OSHA’s Heat Illness Prevention campaign comes down to three keywords: Water. Rest. Shade.
New employees will need time to build a tolerance to the heat. Especially during their first few days in warm or hot environments. Workers who are new to working in warm environments are at increased risk of heat-related illness. Especially during a worker’s first few days, absolutely all symptoms should be taken seriously.
Workers who develop symptoms should be allowed to stop working. They should receive an evaluation for possible heat-related illnesses. Employers should encourage new workers to consume adequate fluids (water and sports drinks), work shorter shifts, take frequent breaks, and quickly identify any heat illness symptoms
Heat-Related Dangers
Every year, dozens of workers die and thousands more become ill while working in extreme heat or humid conditions. There is a range of heat illnesses and they can affect anyone, regardless of age or physical condition.
Employers should recognize that not all workers tolerate heat the same way. Therefore, workplace controls should focus on making jobs safe for all employees. Workers should receive training about personal factors that can make them more susceptible to heat-related illness. When in doubt, workers should talk to their healthcare provider about whether they can work safely in the heat.
Responsibility to Protect Workers
Under OSHA law, employers are responsible for providing workplaces free of known safety hazards. This includes protecting workers from extreme heat. An employer with workers exposed to high temperatures should establish a complete heat illness prevention program including these 6 steps to prevent heat illness.
Train workers in prevention
Provide workers with water, rest, and shade
Allow new or returning workers to gradually increase workloads
Take more frequent breaks as they build a tolerance for working in the heat
Plan for emergencies
Monitor workers for signs of illness
We offer safety training that includes keeping workers safe in heat-exposed jobs. This covers what workers need to know – including factors for heat illness. As well as, adapting to working in indoor and outdoor heat and protecting workers. Furthermore, it includes recognizing symptoms and first aid training. Our heat illness training materials meet OSHA workplace standards.
In some states, the month of May is Safe Jobs for Youth Month. Communities benefit greatly by having teens in the workforce. Employment teaches young people important skills, including responsibility, timeliness, honesty, teamwork, resourcefulness, communication skills and confidence.
Many states have departments of labor that work with employers and parents to help keep young workers safe and healthy. Youth will benefit from learning these valuable life lessons. Fast food, grocery stores, general retail, and lawn care are the most popular jobs for teenagers. Most states have laws that restrict the age, number of hours, and occupations youth can work during the school year and in the summer.
Tips for Youth Employers and Parents
Youth employment safety starts at home. It is also an important responsibility of employers. It’s vital for the parents along with employers of young workers to make sure that young employees know how to be safe. Teens need to be able to identify potential safety risks. Together, we can work to keep young employees safe in the workplace. At the same time they will gain valuable skills to guide them into the future.
Here are a few key things to consider as kids head off to work:
Be aware of how youth employment laws impact different ages, particularly 14-15 year old youth workers.
Know the name of your child’s employer, as well as any location he or she may be working.
Look up the law on acceptable work hours for youth and be a part of the discussion when determining your child’s schedule. Often, this information is included on State Labor Law Posters.
Do some research and find out if the employer stresses safety on the job. Do they provide workers’ compensation insurance and if so, who is their carrier?
Find out what specific types of work your child will be doing and verify that those tasks are allowed under youth employment laws.
Know the potential hazards of the work being done and ensure that proper training will take place to ensure your child’s/ employee’s safety.
Our communities benefit as we all work together to prepare our young people to be valuable assets while also being safe in the workplace.
Even in the safest workplaces, accidents happen. Slips, trips, and falls account for over one-third of all workplace injuries across all industries. Fortunately, these types of injuries are also some of the most preventable — if you have the right procedures and fall protection gear in place.
Fall protection is mandated when workers are exposed to different heights, which vary by industry:
General workplaces: Four feet
Shipyards: Five feet
Construction: Six feet
Longshoring operations: Eight feet
When working above dangerous machinery: Always, regardless of potential fall distance
And this isn’t just in reference to people working above ground: even workers at ground level are at risk when floor openings are present.
There are many different types of fall protection equipment, both temporary and permanent, that can keep workers safe in these scenarios. Here’s a rundown of the main types of fall protection used today, along with some resources for learning more about each.
Scaffolding
Workers use scaffolding to temporarily get access to buildings or machines for construction, repair, or maintenance. These temporary platforms feature planks of different lengths and widths designed to hold both workers and materials.
There are a number of OSHA regulations for scaffolds to help ensure they’re strong and stable enough to support workers and materials. Here are the highlights:
Scaffolds must support their own weight and at least 4 times the maximum load that will be applied to it.
Platforms must be at least 18 inches wide, and they must include guardrails or fall arrest systems for workers.
Space between platforms and uprights can’t be more than one inch wide
Both supported and suspended scaffolds have their own unique requirements.
Shore and lean-to scaffolds are prohibited.
For scaffolds 10 feet or higher, workers are required to use fall protection equipment like a personal fall arrest system or a guardrail system.
Other Types of Fall Protection
For some jobs, like window washing or HVAC repair, it would be unreasonable to build scaffolding to protect workers at elevation. There are a number of other types of fall protection gear, including:
Guardrails. Guardrails can be temporary or permanent, but both keep workers away from dangerous edges or holes.
Fall arrest system. A fall arrest system stops a fall, and consists of a body harness, anchor, and a lifeline connecting the two. A fall restriction system is similar, but often includes another component, like a bosun’s chair, that serves as a work positioning system.
Travel-restraint system. These systems keep workers from getting too close to an unprotected edge. In a travel-restraint system, a worker is attached to a body harness, which connects to a lanyard that may move freely along an anchored line — keeping the worker in the safe zone.
Best Practices for Keeping Workers Safe
Regardless of your industry, there are a number of measures you can take to prevent slips and trips — whether your workers are routinely high above the ground (or not). They are:
Keep work areas clean, dry, and free of debris.
Use railings, floor covers, and toe boards to prevent workers from falling into holes.
Install guardrails and toe boards against open-sided platforms.
Ensure rooftop safety by using temporary or permanent guardrails and anchors for personal fall protection.
National Safety Compliance provides safety training courses to help you stay compliant and stay safe in the workplace. Check out our range of safety training products here.
It’s Injury Prevention Month, so we thought it would be helpful to put together a list of ways you can keep your employees safer in the workplace.
There were 4,764 workplace injuries that resulted in death in 2020. Nearly half of these occurred in the transportation, material moving, and construction and extraction occupations. Beyond that, there were 2.7 million non-fatal workplace injuries in the United States during 2020. While these numbers have decreased over the past few years, workplace safety is still a prominent concern.
To focus on injury and fatality prevention in your workplace, there are several different categories of solutions you should have in place. Here are the ones we believe are the most important.
Provide General Safety Orientation
What your employees don’t know can hurt them. Your safety orientation program will look different depending on your industry, regulations in your locale, and your workers’ roles, but it’s a must-have for companies that want to remain compliant, reduce turnover, and foster the kind of workplace culture that leads to both a strong reputation and bottom line.
Check out our array of Safety Orientation Training Courses, available in both video and booklet formats for different learning environments.
Focus on Slips, Trips, and Falls
While some workplaces inherently present more dangerous hazards than others (think heavy machinery inside a manufacturing facility, or on a construction site), no workplace is exempt from the hazards of slips, trips, and falls — not even a seemingly benign office environment. Get your team up to speed on these common hazards by having them participate in a Slips, Trips and Falls Training Course.
Use Posters and Visuals
There’s no better way to keep safety top-of-mind than to provide visuals around your workplace. Safety posters can serve a variety of purposes, from helping employees recall a specific process or steps, to helping to motivate or inspire changes in behavior. Some posters or safety signs are required by law in certain workplaces. Signage in your workplace can dramatically help with knowledge retention after your employees complete a training course, as well — serving as a valuable way to protect your investment in employee safety education.
Offer Industry-Specific Information
While generic safety education will certainly help prevent injuries in the workplace, there’s no substitute for expert, industry-focused training. This is especially true for construction, manufacturing & warehousing, and healthcare, since these are the main industries where workers suffer the highest number of injuries and fatalities on the job. They’re also some of the most highly regulated industries, meaning you could face hefty fines if you aren’t up to speed on compliance requirements.
Have an Emergency Plan
No matter the type of business you operate, emergencies happen. These include natural disasters, chemical and HAZMAT accidents, and even workplace violence. Do your employees know what to do in the event of any of these disasters? Are you aware of which types of emergencies are most likely to occur at your place of work? Outline an emergency action plan that states the steps your team members should take in the event of each type of emergency. Ready to prevent injuries within your workplace? NSC makes training easy.
Both OSHA and ANSI have standards in place for protecting workers who operate dangerous machinery — and if your industry is impacted by such regulations, you’re likely well-aware of the statistics about amputations, lacerations, and other injuries that come from improper machine guarding. Still, it’s worth noting that improper machine guarding was one of the top OSHA citations of 2021, and has held a place on this list every year for the past decade.
So if machine guard safety isn’t on your list of priorities, it should be. Let’s take a look at some of the safety standards surrounding machine guarding, then we’ll follow up with some actionable steps you can take today to improve compliance and avoid mistakes in the future.
OSHA Standards for Machine Guards
OSHA Standard 1910.212 covers general machine guarding requirements for all machines. The standard defines machine guarding and gives examples (including barrier guards, two-hand tripping devices, and electronic safety devices).
While you can read the full standard at the link above, here are the main points:
Affixing guards to machines. Whenever possible, a guard should be affixed to the machine, and the guard should never cause a hazard in itself.
Point of operation guarding. The “point of operation” is the area where someone processes a material. For example, the point of operation on a table saw would be the table area around the exposed blade. Points of operation must be guarded so that the operator doesn’t have any of their body parts exposed to hazards while operating. While not all machines require point of operation guarding, here are a few that do:
Shears
Power presses
Milling machines
Portable power tools
Guillotine cutters
Power saws
Jointers
Forming rolls and calendars
Barrels, containers and drums have specific guidelines for enclosures, as well as exposed blades on fans. Fixed machinery also should be anchored for added safety.
How to Avoid Mistakes with Machine Guarding
There are a number of steps you can take to avoid mistakes with machine guarding and keep your workplace safe and incident-free. Here are the top tips for setting your work environment and machinery up to ensure worker safety.
Check all of your equipment.
Every machine, from the years-old hydraulic press in the back of the shop to the brand new plastic injection molding machine you just purchased, needs to be checked against OSHA machine guarding standards. It’s surprisingly common for even brand-new machinery to lack proper guards and shields — so run a complete audit of all of the machines in your work area and make a plan for updating or upgrading those that don’t include proper guards.
Replace faulty or outdated machine guards.
After you’ve audited your workplace machinery for safety, replace or add guards to machines that didn’t meet the standard. If you’re unsure of how to do this, check out OSHA’s machine guarding resource. While it’s not comprehensive, this tool does cover some of the most common hazardous machines (saws, presses, and plastics machinery) and ways to employ guards to protect the people who operate them.
When replacing guards, be very careful to use the right materials. One of the most common mistakes is failing to use the right materials, which can render the guard ineffective or make it even more dangerous.
Know the types of machine guarding, and which applies to each machine.
Not all machines need the same types of guarding, and some require unique considerations. Here are some of the main types of machine guarding and what they’re used for:
Fixed guards. Fixed guards are permanent parts of a machine that are usually very simple, like a barrier guard or a screen. These guards provide maximum protection without requiring much maintenance, although they can inhibit visibility in some cases.
Interlocked guards. An interlocked guard is a mechanical device that automatically turns a machine off when the guard is removed or opened — like the door of a microwave. Interlocked guards are very effective but can present hazards when they’re removed for maintenance.
Adjustable guards. Adjustable guards are exactly what they sound like: guards that expand or contract to accommodate different shapes and sizes of materials. Because they require manual adjustment, however, workers must be specifically trained on how to use these guards in order for them to be effective.
Self-adjusting guards. A self-adjusting guard begins in a “rest” position and only moves out of the way to allow a material to pass through the danger zone before returning to a guarded position. A retractable plastic guard on a circular saw is an example of a self-adjusting guard.
Don’t remove machine guards.
Some workers may be inclined to remove guards to speed up their work or make it easier to clean or service the machine. If this is the case at your workplace, you may need to set new expectations for your employees — and consistently apply discipline to those who don’t follow them. Employees should be required to:
Keep machine guards on while machines are in use
Promptly replace guards on machines after cleaning or performing routine maintenance
Notify a supervisor if a guard is broken or missing
Sign an agreement stating that they understand your organization’s rules and regulations around machine guarding, and that they are aware of the consequences of breaking these rules
Training is one of the best preventative measures you can take to ensure your employees’ safety when using machines. If you don’t already have a machine guarding program, consider implementing one like the Machine Safeguarding Training Course available here. Having a standardized training program levels the playing field for your team, and helps you rest assured that everyone has undergone the latest machine guarding training.
While great trainers are important to the success of any organization, safety trainers carry a huge responsibility: the lives of their trainees. With over 4,500 fatal work injuries recorded by the BLS in 2020, there’s no room for B-players on your safety training team.
So how do you identify employees who have the potential to be great safety trainers? And how do you structure your safety training program to ensure compliance across your team of trainers, and by extension, your employees?
Here’s what research shows us about what makes a good safety trainer, along with the knowledge we’ve gleaned from our own decades of experience in safety training. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to identify which of your employees will make the best safety trainers — setting your workplace up for health and success in 2022.
Safety Trainer Characteristics
While diversity and a range of personality types is great to have among your team of trainers, there are a few specific traits that will increase their likelihood of thriving in a trainer role. If you’re evaluating potential trainers from your group of employees, keep an eye out for those that exhibit some or all of the following characteristics:
Thirst for knowledge.
Effective trainers in any setting often have to memorize a dizzying array of information, but for safety trainers, this is even more true. With OSHA and other regulations changing frequently (and the risks of non-compliance being dangerous, expensive, and even deadly), safety trainers will be the most successful when they have a natural thirst for knowledge.
Which of your employees seems to soak up knowledge like a sponge? Is there anyone who has a near-encyclopedic memory when it comes to rules and regulations? These could be your next all-star safety trainers.
Positive attitude.
Your trainers set the tone, and the standard, for anyone they’re training. According to program safety manager Jason Townsell, CSP, “A positive, helpful and cooperative attitude can be the difference between a student learning and a student mentally checking out of a safety training class.”
Professionalism.
While it’s great for your employees to have fun, safety training is, ultimately, a serious matter — so your best trainers should embody professionalism. What does that entail? Beyond the basics, like showing up on time and knowing the material, professionalism is about staying organized, keeping on-track, and following lesson plans methodically and consistently.
A desire to lead and teach. This might be the most important characteristic of all. While you can teach nearly anyone to execute a specific task, no amount of skill-based training can create passion. Either a trainer has it, or they don’t. Keep an eye out for the “helpers”, those employees who regularly lend a hand to their coworkers and go beyond their role to assist others. These are most likely your future A-list trainers.
Safety Trainer Skills
Beyond soft skills, your potential trainers will need to have some specific hard skills and knowledge in order to be effective safety trainers.
Experience in your workplace. While you’ll likely want your trainers to have spent a good amount of time in your industry, keep in mind that seniority isn’t always synonymous with skill. Conduct hands-on tests, interviews, and written exams to compare your trainers’ different skill levels. The more systematically (and objectively) you can measure your potential trainers’ knowledge, the better.
Subject-matter expertise. Are your potential trainers specialists in the areas they’ll be expected to train others? It’s essential that your trainers are subject-matter experts, themselves, so they can answer complex questions and give real-world examples during training sessions.
Train the Trainer: Creating a Safety Training Lesson Plan
Now that you’ve (hopefully!) identified a few employees who would make great trainers, it’s time to optimize your existing training program. Even if you pick the best possible trainers to get your team up to speed on safety and hazards in your workplace, it’s not worth much if your training program and materials don’t cover the right information.
So before you jump in, take inventory of your training checklists, manuals, and other media. Ask yourself:
Do I have an existing safety training program?
If you’re starting from scratch, consider purchasing a general safety orientation training course that your trainers can use immediately to get up to speed on best practices — and to impart that knowledge to their trainees.
Does my training program cover all the potential risks in my workplace?
Conduct a job hazard analysis of your surroundings. Consider physical, ergonomic, chemical, biological, environmental, and other hazards that your workers could encounter — and ensure you have a part of your training program dedicated to each of them. Here are some examples of each:
Physical. Slips, trips and falls; loud noises, machinery, vibrations, and working from heights.
Ergonomic. These tend to be less severe, but still problematic, hazards that build over time — like poor posture, improperly structured workstations and desks, and frequent lifting.
Chemical. Acids, paint, glues, pesticides, and any substances that could result in damage if mishandled.
Biological. This includes naturally occurring hazards like mold, bodily fluids, airborne pathogens, and sewage.
Environmental. Natural disasters like fires, hurricanes, and earthquakes.
Do you have a written emergency plan that your trainers understand and can communicate clearly to trainees? An emergency plan is another foundational aspect of workplace safety that can mean the difference between life and death. If you don’t have a plan written up, use this comprehensive emergency plan kit to create one.
Is your current safety training lesson plan up-to-date with the latest OSHA and other compliance regulations? If you have an existing training program, have some of your top current trainers and potential trainers audit your training materials for compliance and report back to you with ideas for potential changes and improvements.
Am I delivering my training in a format that my trainers like and understand? Consider the range of learning styles across your team. While some learners may prefer written materials that they can absorb on their own time, others may learn better by watching a video and discussing with a group. Offer a range of opportunities to read, listen, watch, and “do”, in order to cover all possible learning styles in your workplace.
Are there clear objectives, assessments, and milestones in my training program? Your trainers will have a much easier time gauging the effectiveness of their training if the program is organized and includes assessments to show if learners are retaining knowledge.
How do I gauge when a trainer is ready and fully qualified to train my employees? How do I measure success? It’s a given that your trainers should be able to complete your existing safety training or compliance programs first, but is there any additional training they should undergo before becoming certified trainers?
There’s a lot to juggle when you’re putting together (or improving) your safety training programs. The good news is you don’t need to start from scratch or hire an expensive production team to create a custom program for your workplace. Check out our library of affordable safety training courses, videos, and other materials to customize a program that reflects your unique environment and rest assured that your trainers have access to the latest in workplace safety.
While lifting seems like a risk-free activity, there are many potential hazards. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) more than one million workers experience back injuries each year, with 75% of back injuries occurring while performing lifting tasks.
A back injury can have a permanent effect on a worker’s life and is one of the most common reasons that people miss work. Ensuring your employees have received lifting safety training and practice safe lifts makes them less likely to incur such injuries.
A big benefit of using safe lifting training is that it teaches your employees about the dangers of overexertion while lifting and the importance of always using OSHA proper lifting techniques no matter how heavy the load.
Before lifting anything, it is important to check your path and surroundings to ensure the work area is flat, dry and free of debris. Decide where you’re going to place the object and how you’ll get there. Then determine the approximate weight of the object and whether or not it’s safe to lift on your own or with a two-man lift limit.
Stretch
Warming up before lifting can be the defining factor between an injury and gliding through your workload. It is imperative to stretch your back and legs in order to warm up the muscles, some great stretches for this are lower back rotations and the hamstring stretch. You also need good blood flow in order to perform properly so you should do a few jumping jacks or run in place briefly before beginning.
Lift
To lift safely, you should stand as close to the load as possible so you don’t exert more force onto your back by extending the distance. Then bend your knees and keep your upper body upright so your legs do the lifting rather than your back. Look straight ahead and keep your back straight and shoulders back so you have a slight arch in your lower back.
Carry
Get a good grip on the load and use your feet to change direction, taking small steps as you go. As you change direction, lead with your hips and keep your shoulders in line with your hip’s movement. Keep the load close to your body with your elbows at your sides.
Set down
Lower the load in reverse by lowering your legs and keeping the load close to your body. Keep your head up, stomach muscles tight and the load close to your body. While it may seem like this is the easy part, you can injure yourself just as easily with setting down a load as you can picking it up.
Dangerous Activities to Avoid When Lifting:
Trainer Advising Employee on Lifting Mistakes
Twisting or turning your body while lifting a load
Attempting to carry a load that is too heavy or too large
Lifting an object above shoulder level
Bending forward rather than squatting down to your load
Using a partial grip with only 1-2 fingers
Lifting or working while fatigued
Obstructing your vision while carrying a load
Rushing through the process
Holding your breath
Can Back Belts Help Prevent Injury?
While back belts have become commonplace for a lot of employees in a workforce that requires a lot of lifting, there is no research that shows that these prevent or decrease back injuries related to lifting.
Back belts offer a lot of supposed benefits but there is a severe lack of scientific evidence to support these benefits. In most cases, back belts can create more potential dangers by creating a false sense of security and making workers more likely to attempt to lift more weight than they can handle.
This is why it is so important to still be mindful of safe lifting techniques and practices rather than relying on a back belt to do the job. Regardless of whether you believe back belts are advantageous or not, do not trust them as a substitute, and instead be mindful of proper lifting.
If you’re putting all your prevention resources into back belts, you are not adequately protecting your workers. Instead, focus your efforts on reducing all risk factors, training your employees on how to lift and respond to reports of discomfort and fatigue as soon as they arise.
High Frequency and Long Duration Lifting
Implementing Back Safety and Safe Lifting Training Will Improve Employee Retention and Satisfaction.
When lifting and carrying loads for long periods of time it is important to be mindful of what your body is telling you. If you begin to feel fatigued you should set down the load, rest and take a break. It is vital to keep your energy up for picking up and setting down the load following the proper technique.
If you are required to have your employees lift high frequency and long duration loads it is essential to plan ahead in order to work in frequent breaks, teamwork and rotating tasks.
If you have any questions about our proper lifting training programs, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can contact us using the chat function on our site, e-mail us at sales@nscemail.com or call us at 877-922-7233.
As your workforce returns from the coronavirus closures, it’s a good time to be proactive about your training needs for the remainder of 2020. Proper training ensures that your team will be safe and ready to resume working at peak efficiency. If you haven’t already read it, you may also want to read our guide on How to Prepare Your Office to Reopen.
National Safety Compliance has a variety of training resources that can be tailored precisely to your needs: online courses, booklets, posters, signage and much more.
Forklift Driver Wearing PPE
Here are some of the many ways that employee training helps your business succeed:
Higher productivity – When employees are well-trained, both the quantity and quality of their work improves.
Greater job satisfaction – Employees who receive excellent training have higher morale and greater loyalty to your organization.
Less supervision required – Well-trained workers spend far less time asking their supervisors for instruction and clarification.
Fewer accidents – Highly trained employees are less likely to experience accidents at work.
More opportunities for promotion – Well-trained workers are better candidates for promotion and are less likely to leave.
Here are 4 easy steps for jump-starting your employee training efforts:
#1 – Determine Which Training Method Works Best For Your Budget and Schedule
Online Training is a Great Way to Train Employees Remotely
Online training – This option lets employees learn at their own pace on their own schedule, either at home or on the job site. Explore some of the many online courses we offer on our Online OSHA Training LMS site.
Employer-led training using a National Safety Compliance training kit – This option lets you train all your employees for one low price. Each kit includes a video, trainer’s manual, PowerPoint presentation, compliance guide, employee quizzes, printable certificates, wallet cards, and more. These kits are available on DVD, USB, or instantly online via our Digital Access offering. Here is an example of our popular forklift training kit.
On-site instructor – This is the most expensive solution, where an instructor conducts training in-person at your facility.
#2 – Identify Your Industry And The Specialized Training Required
Food Service, Like Many Other Industries, Requires Specialized Training
This is by no means an exhaustive list. If you have a question about the training kits most applicable to your industry, please contact us.
#3 – Schedule Your Training Sessions
Online training is easy to schedule because all the work is done by computer. Employees can study either at home or in one of your offices. This is a popular option for employees currently working from home who are preparing to return to the workplace or on-boarding for a new position.
Employee Completing an Online Training Course on onlineoshatraining.net
Employer-led training can take place at your convenience. Make sure to practice safe social distancing when conducting on-site training. It’s a good idea to offer separate 1-hour sessions so employees can retain the material better.
#4 – Verify And File Test Completion Certificates
Most federal and state regulatory organizations require you to keep test results on file for each employee.
According to the Association for Talent Development, companies that offer comprehensive training programs enjoy 218% higher income per employee than companies without formal training programs. These companies also have a 24% higher profit margin than those who spend less on training.
As your company gradually resumes normal operations, now is the perfect time to proactively explore training opportunities for both new and returning employees. Call us today at 877-922-7233, send an e-mail to sales@nscemail.com, or use the chat function to learn more about our productivity-boosting training kits and online training courses.
