Workplaces of risky industries such as construction, manufacturing, healthcare, oil and gas, and mining are of a special kind.
Employees working in such types of businesses are exposed to heavy machinery, hazardous chemicals, and life-altering accidents.
If proper health and safety training were not being conducted, accidents would have happened and led to injury, death, litigation, and financial loss.
This is why health and safety courses are vital in keeping employees healthy, improving productivity, and remaining in compliance with the law.
In this, we will discuss why safety training matters in hazardous industries and how it profits employees and organizations.
Article Contents
1. Avoids Workplace Accidents and Injuries
Prevention of workplace accidents is one of the great benefits of health and safety training.
Trained employees understand:
- How to operate equipment safely
- How to deal with dangerous chemicals
- What to do during an emergency
- How to wear personal protective equipment (PPE)
For example, in construction, workers are instructed on how to properly install scaffolds so that they do not collapse and hurt individuals.
Their colleagues who work in manufacturing are instructed on how to deal with dangerous equipment safely. All these trainings reduce the rate of accidents, injuries, and fatalities.
2. Encourages Health and Safety Act Compliance
UK high-risk companies must be in line with the health and safety acts that are drafted by the governing bodies like the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The inability of these bodies to offer proper safety training can lead to:
- Legal sanctions
- Severe punishment in the form of a fine
- Loss of financial resources to the company reputation
For instance, organizations that handle chemicals need Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSH) training, and fire safety training is mandatory in all workplaces.
Organizations can avoid legal conflicts and work under the law by providing certified safety training.
3. Boosts Employee Confidence and Productivity
Employees are confident and productive when they are safe in the workplace. Trained employees:
- Know what to do in case of an incident that presents a hazard
- Understand how to react to emergencies
- Feel secure and safe in their employment
For example, in the oil and gas industry, explosion prevention and fire prevention-trained employees can execute their job without constantly fearing getting injured. This raises job satisfaction and enhanced performance.
4. Saves Costs Incurred due to Workplace Accidents
Occupational accidents in risky occupations can cost massive amounts of money in the form of:
- Medical expenses
- Compensation payment
- Equipment repair
- Lost production and lost time
HSE figures indicate that British companies lose billions of pounds annually as a result of work-related accidents.
Safety and health training will pay its dividends by avoiding costly accidents and saving companies money in the long term.
5. Promotes a Safety-First Culture
Healthy safety and health culture begins with healthy training. Through regular training of workers in occupational safety, companies establish a culture where:
- Peers monitor one another
- Everyone is following the book
- Accidents are seen and taken care of with speed
To illustrate, underground mining has occupational safety training that enables the workers to pick up signs of equipment malfunctioning or structural defect that can contribute to collapses. The trained human resource does not easily precipitate catastrophes.
6. Train Workers to Respond in a Crisis
Hazard in hazardous industries is always unstable and vague hazard, i.e.:
- Burning and blast
- Chemical spills
- Electrical hazard
- Confined space emergency
Health and safety training informs the employees on what to do in case of such an occurrence.
For example, fire safety training in a chemical plant informs the employees on how to safely extinguish and contain fires, while first aid training in construction informs the workers on how to manage medical conditions.
7. Keeps Companies in Good Reputation
A company that cares about the health and safety of workers gains a good image in the market.
The companies that do not take health and safety into consideration are likely to suffer from:
- High staff turnover
- Negative publicity
- Failure to recruit qualified staff
On the other hand, companies that invest in safety training will be more effective at attracting and retaining good employees.
A positive safety record shows employees, customers, and investors that the company cares about its employees and is being responsible.
In high-risk industries, health and safety training courses are not merely a matter of legal compliance – they are the most effective means of avoiding loss of life, reducing costs, and improving workplace productivity.
By investing in ongoing, high-quality safety training, businesses can establish a safer, more efficient working environment for employees.
From fire safety to manual handling, PPE awareness, or emergency response training, all of the training is required in mitigating risks and maintaining the standards required.
