Whether you are a new employee or a seasoned veteran, working in a hazardous environment comes with inherent risks. The challenge is keeping everyone safe while they are at work. There are several ways that you can increase the health and safety of your workplace throughout the different phases of your WHS induction program. Whether you are new to your company or an experienced employee trying to understand why you are getting health and safety inductions, this guide is for you. It will discuss the benefits of a WHS induction program, why you need one, and the correct ways to conduct a health and safety training session. You will also learn about common training pitfalls and how to prevent them.
What does a health and safety induction program do?
A WHS induction program is a series of training sessions that are used to introduce new employees to the ways that you conduct business. It should also familiarise them with the hazards that may exist in your particular workplace. Ideally, the program should be led by a competent and experienced health and safety person such as Safetec Safety Solutions who have specialist safety consultants who are willing to share their knowledge and answer any questions that the new hire may have. A WHS induction should also be an opportunity to discuss the company’s health and safety policies and how they align with the WHS Act and Regulations. A health and safety induction also allows employees do thoroughly understand emergency procedures, develop hazard awareness and identification and over all developing a company safety culture.
Why you need a health and safety induction program
A standard health and safety induction program will help you avoid having to deal with several costly workplace accidents. It will also help you improve your company continual improvement strategies by identifying and correcting any hazards that may exist on your job site. A properly run WHS induction program can help prevent workplace injuries and fatalities, which will help with company. Financial and operation sustainability in the long run. An effective safety induction should be made by specialists in a safety and training field such as us, who offer VR training, face to face training and e-learning training. A health and safety induction program should cover the following topics:
- Emergency Management, Evacuation, Drills and First Aid
- Roles of important individuals within the workplace
- Communicate where workers are able to find and use safe working procedures, policies, safety committees and other forms of safety communication within the workplace
- Critical hazards within the workplace
- Manual Handling/ergonomics
- Safety culture and potentially talking about blue culture
- Other relevant topics and hazards within the workplace which may pose the greatest risk to workers.
Health and Safety Training pitfalls and how to avoid them
There are a few things that you will want to keep in mind when you are conducting your health and safety induction training or e-learning packages. Firstly, you will want to make sure that the new employees understand the purpose of the induction. This is important so that they have a proper context for the information that you are giving them. You will also want to make sure that they understand the policies and procedures that are in place to keep them and others safe (providing reasonable care). Finally, make sure that they understand how to use the equipment that is on site. Many workplaces deliver safety training, but it isn’t adequate. Weather they miss critical parts or don’t have the proper knowledge or experience in delivering safety training, it can be detrimental to a business if a specialist health and safety expert with knowledge and experience does not develop and/or deliver the training.
Conclusion
The best WHS induction program is one that is integrated into the safety culture of your business. A proper health and safety induction is only one part of that equation. A solid WHS program needs to be backed up by a solid safety management system and continual improvement/safety maintenance. It also needs to be supported by managers who are committed to prevention which will help the business safety culture. A health and safety induction program is an important part of this equation. When it is developed and integrated correctly, it can help to mitigate the risk of injury and fatalities on the job site.
See how the safety consulting specialists at Safetec Safety Solutions can help you develop and implement and effective WHS induction program in your workplace.
