NTT Blog

Is Safety Training Important for Industrial Workplaces?

There is no shortage of hazards within the modern industrial environment. Contact with electricity, entanglement in heavy machinery, crushing injuries beneath moving vehicles, and toxic chemical exposures are just some of the hazards employees face in the workplace. Safety training helps workers understand these risks and protect themselves from harm. The importance of safety training cannot be overstated and employers should ensure that all workers receive thorough safety training early on in their employment.

Objectives of Industrial Safety Training

Industrial safety training helps prevent accidents, which can cause harm to workers. This is of paramount importance as the prevention of loss of life or permanent disability are the responsibility of all employers. A safe workplace is a productive workplace and employees who know their safety is paramount to their employer are better able to focus on doing the jobs they are hired to perform.

Safety training also helps your company remain compliant with governing regulations and can help reduce expenses stemming from workers’ compensation and insurance claims. Finally, proper training helps insulate production schedules from delays caused by equipment malfunctions or damage.

Hazard Identification

Training employees how to recognize hazards is the most effective method of preventing accidents. Hazard identification training helps employees understand the hazards inherent within their workplace and identify potential causes of harm before they cause personal injuries or unintentional death.

Hazard identification requires comprehensive analysis of routine job related functions, work environment, equipment operation and maintenance, material storage, etc. Particular focus should be given to known issues that have caused injuries and fatalities in the past.

Emergency Response

There is an endless list of potential emergencies. Thermal injuries, amputations, crushing injuries, and chemical exposures are some of the most serious injuries workers can experience. Workers must know how to respond to these events. This includes knowing how to quickly extinguish fires, contain chemical spills, and evacuate contaminated areas. Workers must also receive training on how to operate emergency response equipment and administer first aid to injured colleagues.

Emergency response training should encompass the proper delivery of CPR and AED. Employees should be taught how to operate fire extinguishers and alarms, as well as hoses and other fire suppression systems installed within the facility. Training should also incorporate communication principles that can help them quickly convey information to emergency responders so that they can deliver the most effective response on arrival.

Top to Bottom Education

Safety training requires training everyone in the company on how to identify hazards within the workplace and respond to threats before they can cause harm. Everyone from the C-Suite to the factory floor should be thoroughly versed in the types of threats present within the workplace.

When it comes to safety, adopting the attitude that it’s everyone’s responsibility is highly effective at reducing workplace incidents. This creates a culture of care where everyone looks out for everyone. This improves morale and is highly effective at preventing accidents and injuries.

Refresher Training

People get busy and lessons are forgotten. Refresher training helps keep threats and risks at the forefront of an employee’s thoughts. It helps establish patterns of behavior that can keep workers safe from harm. Refresher training should be conducted at regular intervals, and employees should be questioned and drilled on an ongoing basis.

This has the added benefit of turning employees into teachers. Employees who are well versed in safety principles can share their knowledge with colleagues and help new hires safely settle into the workplace.

Establishing Safe Habits

Establishing safe habits is a core tenet of every safety-training program. This requires thoroughly instructing employees on the proper use of machinery, the correct storage of chemicals, the safe use of equipment, etc. Moreover, it requires training managers how to spot dangerous behaviors and learn how to effectively correct “bad” habits before they cause harm. Managers who master these leadership skills are crucial for keeping their workers safe.

Legal Protection

Safety training helps protect your business by helping you stay compliant with governing regulations. In turn, this protects your bottom line from fines and penalties. Further, safety training can protect you against legal action should an accident occur. Establishing the steps and efforts taken to ensure a safe working environment can help protect your company, and your reputation, against personal injury lawsuits and claims of negligence.

We invite you to contact NTT Training, Inc. for more information about our safety training programs. We proudly offer customizable safety training courses that can help your company build a safe and productive future.