Safety Training--Why So Important?

September is National Preparedness Month, but we here at Safety Training Services, Inc. feel it is important to speak briefly about the importance of training at any date, especially in the workplace.

Merriam-Webster defines "training" as the skill, knowledge or experience acquired by one that trains. Specifically, "safety training" is for employees or even individuals working within the industrial and/or construction industries. 

OSHA states that education and training provides employers, managers, supervisors, and workers with:

• Knowledge and skills needed to do their work safely and avoid creating hazards that could place themselves or others at risk.
• Awareness and understanding of workplace hazards and how to identify, report, and control them.
• Specialized training, when their work involves unique hazards.

Many in these industries utilize equipment that has associated hazards intrinsic to its' use.

For example, forklifts, scissor lifts, boom lifts, even ladders, scaffolds or powered hand tools; just to name a few. Employee safety training is the necessary action or preventative action in order to instruct and teach your employee about the hazards and provide them the correct OSHA policies and procedures to stay safe while operating the machine or tool within the workplace. 

 Specifically, there are many benefits to training:

• Statistically, less accidents!
• Increased efficiency & productivity
• Improves employee morale
• Less time/manpower wasted on supervision and/or micromanagement

If you utilize aerial lifts (scissor, boom, rough terrain fork lifts) in your business, you are required by OSHA to provide appropriate training to your operators; and if that training was performed by an equipment rental company, you would expect that training to be effective and complete. Right?!--Maybe… 

You may have simply received “equipment familiarization” and received a signed certificate for it.

Per ANSI/OSHA Standards, TRAINING must include 12 information/ instruction components and include equipment demonstration proficiency.

This cannot be accomplished with a 1-hour video! Could you imagine if learning to drive an automobile was taught this way? 

For years now the aerial lift industry has been relying on the OEM’s “canned” training materials - usually a video or DVD provided by local aerial lift dealers to achieve the ANSI/OSHA requirement of “qualified person” status for operators. As we are finding out, this simple approach just does not do a good enough job of providing appropriate safety training to operators. 

This week (September 17th-20th) was the 24th Annual Chicagoland Safety and Health Conference. 

The Chicagoland Safety & Health Conference is for professionals who have safety, health, training, environmental or preparedness responsibilities. This year, the conference was held at Northern Illinois University's Naperville Campus. 

The conference is planned, operated and presented by a volunteer group of EHS professionals. The proceeds from this conference are used to support the safety and health professions.

Safety Training Services, Inc. is excited to announce that we were involved with the conference as we not only hosted a booth but were presenters as well.

National Preparedness Month was created in 2004 and occurs every September.

It was created by the U.S. Government, sponsored by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) under the Department of Homeland Security, to remind citizens to prepare for emergencies at home, work and within their communities. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, Hurricane Katrina and other devastating natural disasters, the U.S. Government has realized the importance of its citizens to be prepared to survive and respond during emergencies.

A large part of the initiative is to have extra supplies, survival gear and medical supplies. However, it is important to remember that we must train to fully be prepared for an emergency.

Having been in the fire service for the last 18 years, I recall the massive amount of training we had to do before we could be ready to answer emergency calls. I like the military idea of "train like you fight, fight like you train." The importance of training with your survival gear or receiving first aid medical training can't be understated.

So as we move through September and therefore move through National Preparedness Month, remember to train for and be ready to survive or respond to emergencies. Always remember the best tools and equipment are useless in untrained hands.