INSTRUCTIONS AND TRAINING
You need to provide training and instructions to your employees to ensure that they are able to
carry out their tasks safely and without risks to health. Training is helping and showing
employees what they should and should not do when they carry out their workplace activities.
Employees should be suitably trained in all aspects of their job from the most menial to the
riskiest activities in the workplace.
Suitable employee training can reduce workplace incidents and accidents which in turn can lead
to reduced costs, lower insurance premiums and fewer potential lawsuits. It would also promote
a healthier, safer and happier workforce. Workplace instruction can be carried out in various
ways, it could be a written document such as a method statement, or it could be verbal
communication from a line manager or colleague.
1. Who needs health and safety training
2. Types of workplace health and safety training
3. Sources of health and safety training
4. Health and safety training legislation
1. Who needs health and safety training
Providing training and instruction to your employees will help you ensure that they know how to
work safely and that they understand how risks to their health are controlled. The level of
training required is identified during a workplace risk assessment. For example, technical
equipment such as forklift trucks may require an in depth training, instruction and supervision
programme. While Display Screen Equipment (DSE) may only require basic training to allow
the user to self-assess risks of the workstation and DSE equipment. It’s very important that you
include your employees in the risk assessment process. The information and training employers
provide needs to be easy for the employees to understand and follow. You also need to consider
and make arrangements for those whom English is not their first language. Employers have a
duty to communicate and cooperate with other employers who share the workplace.
2. Types of workplace training
Induction training
Induction training is provided for new employees to help them to settle into the new workplace
environment and activities. This basic training will give the new employees an outline of the
organisation and the services it provides. It will assist employees to become familiar with their
new workplace environment, colleagues and procedures.
Some of the topics you should provide in induction training could be
workplace orientation
fire safety and emergency procedures
first aid
health and safety (such as risk assessments or accident reporting procedure)
welfare facilities
safe use of workplace tools, machinery, equipment
Risk assessments
Maintenance or storage of personal protective equipment.
Record employees training records online
Refresher training
Refresher training is given to employees on the assumption that existing skills have become out-
dated or obsolete. This could be because of the advancement of technology or simply that people
can forget things. Employees could become complacent with safety procedures which could lead
to mistakes or errors, for this reason, it is important to refresh employees’ knowledge and skills.
Toolbox talks
A toolbox talk is an informal workplace safety meeting. These are intended to communicate vital
safety information to employees. The talks will help facilitate health and safety discussions and
will promote a positive safety culture within the organisation. The talks focus on various safety
topics that are related to any specific workplace activity. For example, you can use them to deal
with
hazards
safe systems of work
risk assessments
training needs
health and safety updates
incidents and accident investigation updates
new equipment.
The talks can be done face-to-face, at shift handovers, planned huddles or in a short presentation.
They are often kept short and can be carried out by managers, supervisors or even fellow
workplace colleagues. The talks can be more informal than other types of training but you can
also keep a record of them.
3. Sources of health and safety training
In house training
In house training will be carried out by a member of the organisation. For this reason, it is very
cost effective as the organisation does not have to pay for an external professional or materials.
The disadvantage of internal training is that time and quality could be limited. For example, the
employer might not have all the resources to train all of its employees on all aspects of their jobs
without there being any downtime on production and productivity. Also, the organisation could
struggle to keep up to date with new information and to ensure that the training is of good
quality. This could lead to the provision of the bare minimum of training and instruction to
comply with legislation. Sometimes this may not be suitable or sufficient and could lead to
accidents or incidents.
External training
External training will be provided by an external person to the organisation. It has the benefit of
being impartial and it could offer a new way of approaching your organisation, offering new
ideas that you may not have already considered. A specialist practitioner will have the specialist
knowledge and they should be up to date with new information available.
There are some disadvantages to using an external practitioner.
You may be required to send employees away from the workplace.
Employees could be away from the workplace for a large number of days.
Non-competent people could deliver the training.
There are numerous training providers available. It’s important that you use competent people to
deliver training for you.
Online training
Online training is an easy and simple way of providing basic training to employees. You can
access our free online training courses below. This is our list of online training modules.
Managing Health and Safety: The basics
Health Risks at Work
Mentally Healthy Workplaces
Violence and Aggression in the Workplace
Driving Risks at Work
Sensible Risk Assessment
Supporting Staff Attendance
Improving Workplace Health
Alcohol and Drugs in the Workplace.
You can complete our virtual learning modules for free. You can print a certificate of completion
once you have successfully completed an online assessment.
4. Health and safety training legislation
For legal requirements and health and safety purposes, you will need to take appropriate action to
protect employees, this can include the provision of information, training and supervision.
