Importance of Health and Safety Training in the Workplace

Why is Health and Safety Training Important in the Workplace?

Investing in a comprehensive health and safety training program helps foster a safe, efficient, and successful work environment. Training plays a vital role in protecting the well-being of employees by equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary to perform their jobs safely and effectively. Training also promotes a workplace safety culture by empowering employees to identify and report potential hazards. Furthermore, training is essential for complying with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), Canada Labour Code Part II, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, other legislation, and best practices.

Workplace training regulations are shaped by legislation, in various jurisdictions. However, keep in mind that not all training falls under these regulatory requirements—some courses are designed to enhance skills and knowledge beyond the basics.

What Does Health and Safety Training Include?

Health and safety training encompasses a variety of topics and the type of training workers receive varies based on the sector. At HSPI, we offer many training courses to meet federal and provincial workplace needs. Below, we will highlight some of the training courses we offer:

Competent Health and Safety Supervisor Training: HSPI offers a two-day course that assists supervisors and employers in meeting their legal obligation of appointing “competent” supervisors in Ontario. In federally regulated workplaces, we call them “qualified” persons.

Confined Spaces: This four-hour course provides participants with the knowledge required to enable them to effectively recognize, assess, control and evaluate workplace exposure to confined space hazards.

Conflict Management in the Workplace: This is a half-day course that introduces participants to their conflict resolution style, using the Thomas-Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument.

De-Escalation Training: De-Escalation is a half-day course designed for anyone who works with or supports members of the public. Participants learn how to manage stressful and sometimes tense situations in the workplace.

Driving Hazards (including Winter Driving): This four-hour module allows participants to describe the consequences of unsafe driving and why it is important for employers to address factors that have been identified in the literature as increasing the risk of vehicle crashes.

Incident Investigation (based on CSA Standard Z1005-21): This course covers incident investigation policies and programs, pre-planning, reporting requirements, choosing the investigation team, conducting investigations, writing the report, and follow up.

Internal Auditor Training: This is a two-day course for internal auditors. Learners will review the core elements of an occupational health and safety management system and key components of an audit program.

Machine Hazards: This course provides participants with a basic review of machinery and an introduction to lockout procedures and machine safeguarding, including the principles that underlie them and their practical application.

Naloxone in the Workplace: This two-hour course meets the Occupational Health and Safety Act’s requirements for at-risk workplaces. It is suitable for all workplaces and sectors, even if they don’t fit the “at risk” definition.

Above are just a few of the many training courses we offer. HSPI also offers customizable courses based on your workplace’s unique needs. To learn more about our training, please reach out.

Health and Safety Training and Legal Requirements

Generally, occupational health and safety legislation requires employers to teach employees about any hazard they will encounter in the workplace. In Ontario Section 25(2)(a) of the OHSA dictates that the employer is responsible for providing information, instruction, and supervision to workers to protect their health and safety. Part 125(1)(q) of the Canada Labour Code Part 2 states that employers have a general duty to provide each employee with the information, instruction, training, and supervision.

In practical terms, this means that employers are required to teach their employees about all hazards they will encounter in their workplace. It is the employer’s responsibility to assess the risks their workers will face and ensure that they are trained in the control measures required to perform the work safely.

How Do You Measure the Effectiveness of Safety Training?

Measuring the effectiveness of training is as important as the training itself. We call this “transfer of training”. Transfer of training refers to the generalization of knowledge and skills learned in training on the job and the maintenance of skills over time. Transfer of training strategies can be implemented before, during, and after the training process and involve managers, trainers, and trainees. We recommend that workplaces plan to evaluate training, at the outset, as they begin to plan for the training program itself. Some ways to measure the effectiveness of training include:

Training evaluation forms: Distributing training evaluation forms can gather feedback from employees on the effectiveness of training delivery. Our experts note that this will only measure what happened in the classroom that day. They do not reveal how the learners will apply the training in the field. We often call this the “happy face” evaluation, as these types of evaluations frequently ask about room temperature, snacks, and the length of the session, which the facilitator may have no control over. They do little to tell us how course content will be applied in the workplace.

Pre- and post-training assessments: Conduct pre-training assessments followed by the same assessment, after the training is completed. This will indicate how effective the training was at filling knowledge gaps. We recommend using post-training assessments at regular intervals to measure knowledge retention months after training. Continue to evaluate the application of what was learned in the training session, to determine when refresher training is needed. Again, this measures knowledge acquisition and retention, and not necessarily, application in the field.

Job site walk-throughs: To determine if the training delivered the results expected, we recommend that the trainer, supervisor, or safety personnel go directly into the field to observe. For example, if the training goal was for learners to be proficient in the lockout policy, go into the field and watch them implement the lockout policy. Ask questions about course content as it applies to the work being done. If the worker can apply course material to their actual work, the training was successful. If workers cannot apply the classroom training material in their daily work, this is the time to identify what is missing. The solution may be job-site mentoring, or more classroom training. The ongoing jobsite walk throughs continually evaluate effectiveness of training programs.

Regularly reviewing and updating training programs helps ensure that they remain effective and relevant. HSPI has the ability and expertise to customize and evaluate the effectiveness of workplace health and safety training. We would love to be a part of your workplace’s training journey. Contact us today for personalized solutions tailored to your needs!