Health and safety management courses are necessary for all industries. Each and every business must be careful when it comes to complying with the laws in this country that revolve around health and safety. It is easy to ignore your responsibilities as a business owner but you do so at great risk.
If you are found not to be following the laws you face major issues that could result in injured or ill workers, being prosecuted in a court of law, large fines and even face a prison sentence. This is why training is essential.
Training Your Supervisors & Managers
One of the first steps to take is ensuring your managers and supervisors have suitable health and safety qualifications. Health and safety courses provide the essential training they need so they can help run this side of the business. They can learn amazing amounts of skills and knowledge in short periods of time. This knowledge can then be combined with their current management skills and will help them to stay on top of what is legally required.
There are many different health and safety courses to choose from. Some designed specifically for directors and senior level staff, some for managers and others designed for supervisors. Each of the courses focuses on the role the individual must play in the company, give them information on their own legal duties and teach important skills such as making risk assessments, method statements, establishing and managing a health and safety policy and recognising problems that need to be addressed.
There are also health and safety courses for all levels of employees, all of whom will need health and safety training on some level.
What Health & Safety Management Courses to Choose?
The health and safety management courses come in different forms. Some are taught in a classroom setting under the guidance of a tutor. These courses can be taken in a week or spread out over shorter weekly classes. Other types of health and safety management courses can be taken in the workplace. Tutors are able to come to your work premises and give training to a group of your employees. If you have fewer staff that need training it is possible to purchase distance learning or e-learning.
You need to provide the candidate time at work to dedicate to the course. E-learning and distance learning courses can often be taken over longer time periods so you can decide how many hours per week you are able to spare the candidate so they can do the studying they need. The individuals will be given login details so if they also need to revise or train at home in their own time they can do. However, legally you also need to provide time out of their usual working hours to get the training they need.
What Courses are Available
There are multiple courses available from well-known and respect leaders in the industry including NEBOSH courses, IOSH courses and the NVQ Health and Safety courses. The courses range from the NEBOSH General Certificate from NEBOSH, giving a good understanding of general health and safety duties and responsibilities. The Institution of Occupational Safety & Health offer the IOSH Managing Safely course, another ideal option to choose for managers and supervisors in a wide range of industries. If you are working in the construction industry it is essential to choose a course that is designed for construction managers such as the SMSTS or NEBOSH Construction Certificate.
As this is a high risk industry the managers really need to be aware of all the risks and the legislation surrounding certain working environments including working at height.