Health and safety training is important for your business in a wide variety of ways.
Despite what may at times seem like overzealous guidelines, the regulations about health and safety actually protect both business and employees and serve to be profitable to both.
No matter the overall size of your business or what your business does, health and safety guidelines are in place to keep everyone safe.
This article discusses nine reasons why health and safety training can benefit both your business and your employees.
1. Saves money
Health and safety guidelines save money when followed. Clear, concise guidelines can cut down on indirect business costs and streamlined business operations mean that costs on excess are also reduced. A safe, well-run business is efficient.
Health and safety training can reduce the costs that a business has to pay out for employee accidents or insurance.
An employee that is injured due to lack of health and safety training has to be compensated for his injury, insurance costs go up, and a temporary employee must be trained and paid to cover work.
Keeping employees safe with health and safety training retains employees and saves money.
Not following governmental health and safety guidelines could lead to fines, court cases, and ultimately business closures, all of which cost a considerable sum of money.
Repeat offenders for not following health and safety guidelines can be fined, even more, resulting in needless costs.
Following health and safety guidelines helps your business save money both now and in the long term.
2. Reduces the risk of accidents
Concise, simple instructions can help reduce the risk of accidents.
For businesses that work in dangerous areas, like construction, health, and safety training on how to work at heights is necessary to prevent accidental falls.
While some training regulations may seem common sense, the more training that is done, the more efficient it is.
Proper training encourages a person to react appropriately in an emergency or when they are caught off their guard.
Health and safety training enables other employees to spot accidents before they occur and prevent them.
Well-trained employees keep themselves and others safe.
3. Increases productivity and efficiency
While health and safety, training may seem a bit excessive to some, especially those that encourage a “common sense” approach, health and safety training actually increases productivity and efficiency.
As each employee completes health and safety training, it encourages morale and promotes cohesiveness and camaraderie amongst workers.
Employees that work well together towards a common goal can also increase productivity and efficiency.
When workers are able to work safely, they can work faster and more efficiently. Jobs that have simple instructions and clear expectations laid out, remove the possibility of accidents due to confusion.
Working in a safe environment allows each worker to work productively and efficiently without fear of accidents. Such an environment in turn increases productivity and lowers the overall cost of the business.
A safe business is a productive and efficient business.
4. Encourages communication
Health and safety training opens up communication between employers and employees.
If an employee sees unsafe actions from other employees, actions that go specifically against their health and safety training, they will have the backing and knowledge necessary to speak up and say something.
Good health and safety training empowers your employees to speak up and thereby keep your business safe and running smoothly.
Additionally, open communication, not just about health and safety, allows for better business practices and can improve the competency and efficiency of all your employees and in return, improve your business.
5. Protect yourself from lawsuits
Following government-mandated health and safety guidelines, in addition to your business-specific guidelines helps protect your business and yourself from lawsuits.
If an employee becomes ill or is injured on the job, they could take you and your business to court. Legal action would negatively hurt the reputation of your company and would cost your business a substantial sum of money.
Health and safety training keeps your business running safely and protects the lives and health of your employees.
6. Improves a company’s reputation
Thanks to a rigorous health and safety program, a safe, productive, and efficient company will be well-respected throughout its competitors.
Having a high standard for health and safety in a company can help your business be better recognized for achievements and will keep it in good standing in your specific industry.
Your business’s ongoing success in your specific field depends on it having a good reputation, and a health and safety program is an integral part of a good reputation.
Businesses that are known for being unsafe will lose clients and could ultimately be put out of business due to an unsafe environment.
7. Reduces stress
A stressful, anxious environment makes workers nervous and prone to accidents because they are stressing about accidents. It is a vicious cycle.
If you can offer health and safety training to reduce accidents, you can help reduce the stress of your employees.
A low-stress workplace is better for workers, allows them to be more productive, and can help you retain your employees for a longer period of time.
8. Retains loyal employees
Knowing that a company trains and therefore treats its employees well encourage loyalty amongst employees.
Loyal employees save money for a company in the long run because a business will not need to find, rehire, and retrain new employees, thus accounting for a loss in profits.
Loyal employees also bring on even more loyal employees.
If an employee hears that your business is hiring, and they know a specialist that is a perfect fit, a happy and safe employee will recommend their friend, the specialist.
Word of mouth, especially amongst employees, is valuable to a business’s reputation.
9. Fulfills legal requirements
A business is legally obligated to fulfill government-mandated health and safety guidelines and train their employees to recognize them.
To ignore the law opens a business up to lawsuits, fines, and possibly closures.
While it is a legal requirement, it is also a common-sense requirement that you train your employees to understand health and safety specific to your workplace.
Building off the government regulations is a great step towards keeping your workplace safe and accident-free.
10. Nothing to lose with health and safety training
Ultimately, adhering to government guidelines for health and safety leaves your business with nothing to lose.
Following health and safety guidelines unites your entire business with the common goal – having a safe workplace.
A workplace that is unified and supportive is efficient and productive. While the costs of health and safety training may seem expensive upfront, the gains that are involved, easily outweigh the costs.
An ethical business will incorporate health and safety training across the board and that in turn will help the business stay productive, stay respectable, and profitable.
In closing, health and safety training is valuable for a wide variety of reasons.
As a business owner, it can help you maintain profits and loyal employees, as a worker, it helps you reduce risks of accidents and increases productively.
It shows that you are a caring and effective leader, by putting your employees through a rigorous health and safety course, and in doing so, other businesses will take note.
Holly is part of the content team at Engage EHS. Holly has worked in the health and safety industry since graduating from university. When not writing about health and safety practices, Holly can be found researching new travel locations.
