What companies should know about our Health and Safety Training Induction course

• 1 September 2021

Our health and safety training induction course has been tailormade for responsible companies who wish to ensure that their employees have been set up for success with regards to health and safety training in the workplace. Participants, after the course’s duration, will have been equipped with the fundamentals of the above, which will likely reduce injuries in the workplace. In just a few minutes of reading, find out more about Emcare’s health and safety training induction course as we dive deeper into its contents. 

About the health and safety training induction course

This brief course lasts between 4 to 8 hours, largely dependent on the size of the group of participants. Despite the brevity of the course, all participants will receive a certificate upon completion. The health and safety training induction course comprises learning the fundamentals of a diverse collection of topics, including the following about which we will elaborate:

• Safety in the workplace
• Environmental awareness
• Ergonomics
• Personal protective equipment
• Emergency evacuation
• Fire safety and fighting awareness

Safety in the workplace 

Perhaps one of the most valuable aspects of our health and safety induction course is that of safety in the workplace. In this segment, your employees will be provided with the fundamental knowledge required to go about their workday and duties in a safe and aware manner. It also involves instructions regarding the nature of following safety instructions as well as general guidelines. They will also gain an understanding of how to identify as well as report hazards, and further, have a basic knowledge of how to deal with them.

Sending your employees to participate in safety in the workplace training helps you to ensure a safe and healthy work environment. Your employees will have an understanding of what is expected of them in the event of an emergency, as well as how to comport themselves in hazardous situations.

Environmental awareness

This term, although increasing in use all over the world, is surprisingly unfamiliar to many. It refers to the understanding of the fragility of the environments we inhabit as well as the significance of its protection. As one of the topics covered in our health and safety training induction course, you may wish to become more familiar with the notion before sending your employees to participate.

The notion of environmental awareness first became a common term during the environmentalist movement, wherein the ideology of humans needing to protect, respect and preserve the natural world from human-driven changes was promoted. It is the belief of many environmentalists and institutions committed to protecting the environment that passing on this knowledge is one significant way to begin fixing the problems that have contributed to the climate crisis we currently face.

Enrolling your employees in our health and safety induction course is a fantastic way to provide them an opportunity to learn about the basics of the environmental issues we face as well as the importance of its protection. There are various examples of environmental issues whose consequences have been discovered to be devastating, such as:

• Deforestation: each year, millions of acres of forest are destroyed for the benefit of industrial forces, such as oil mining, the production of paper and large scale farming. Over the years, this process has left millions of animals without their natural habitat, causing their species to become sparse and in some cases, highly endangered. This results in biodiversity extinction.

• Oil drilling: one of the most controversial environmental issues, oil drilling is responsible for a large amount of destruction. Tragically, we are dependent on fossil fuels and are taking too long to find and install renewable energy solutions in many countries. When oil spills occur offshore, marine life is poisoned and wildlife on the coast also suffers. The combustion of fossil fuels too contributes to an increased dose of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which has resulted in ocean acidification as well as global warming.
• Plastic goods production: today, we as a society create a startling amount of waste, many of which includes plastic. In 2010, around 31 million tons of plastic waste was produced, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This plastic waste ends up all over the world, both on land and in water.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a good example of this – a floating “island” of trash. Plastic waste as a result of production is not the only issue, however. It is the burning of fossil fuel in order to create the plastic that is also a major concern.

Learning about ergonomics in our health and safety training induction course

Ergonomics refers to the study of understanding human interaction as well as other elements of a system. This is taught to participants in order to advance well-being and overall performance in the workplace. There are 5 aspects that make up ergonomics; safety, comfort, ease of use, performance and aesthetics.  Understanding these aspects helps one to analyse current modes of operation in the workplace or product design, and establish how they could be improved.

Sending your employees to take part in our health and safety training induction course may very well make a significant impact in the way that they view their work space, as well as heighten productivity and helpful suggestions during the workday.

Personal protective equipment

Also referred to as PPE, personal protective equipment comprises the equipment worn or that is available to minimise injuries when exposed to hazards or emergencies in the workplace. In many professions, such as those that require office work, it is unlikely that personal protective equipment will be a standard part of the uniform. Whereas when it comes to construction work, wearing effective and appropriate personal protective equipment is a must. It all boils down to the nature of the work.

Injuries in the workplace may include those of a physical, electrical, mechanical, chemical or radiological nature. Typically, a job which requires full PPE will call for the use of hard hats, earmuffs or plugs, gloves, safety glasses and shoes. Other times, such as we have seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, PPE may include full suits with hoods. In an office scenario, it is likely that there will be appropriate personal protective equipment in storage to be made available in the event of an emergency.

All PPE in a workplace is to be safely constructed and maintained so that it is clean and reliable. It is no use holding onto compromised personal protective equipment as it could result in failure and ultimately even injury. All PPE must also properly fit employees in order to be effective, especially if it is to be worn each day during working hours. As an employer sending your employees to our health and safety training course, you can rest easy knowing that your employees will gain a fundamental understanding of:

• When PPE is necessary
• What kind of personal protective equipment is necessary
• How to properly put on PPE as well as adjust it to fit well
• How to properly remove PPE
• The limitations of personal protective equipment
• Proper maintenance and care of PPE
• Proper disposal methods of the equipment

Emergency evacuation

The above can be defined as the urgent and immediate escape of individuals from an area that contains an imminent or ongoing threat or hazard that could compromise the safety of people and property. There are a range of scenarios that would result in the need for an emergency evacuation. There are small-scale evacuations, such as those that occur due to fires in a smaller workspace. There are larger scale evacuations that involve entire cities to evacuate due to storms or flooding.

The following is a list of most of the disasters that often call for emergency evacuations:

1. Natural disasters

• Tropical cyclones
• Tsunamis
• Earthquakes
• Volcanic eruptions
• Wildfires

2. Industrial accidents

• Nuclear accidents
• Chemical spills
• Fires

3. Transport accidents

• Train wrecks
• Road accidents
• Aircraft evacuations

4. Military attacks

• Imminent war
• Bombings
• Terrorist attacks

Now that you have an idea of most of the disasters that call for emergency evacuations, you may understand why emergency evacuation plans are so important. During this section of our health and safety training induction course, your employees will come to terms with the significance of evacuation plans as well as how to safely follow them in an efficient and timely manner. There are nuances that must also be considered besides the obvious.

For example, special provisions must be made for employees with disabilities, physical or psychological, that may hinder their own evacuation process. It is crucial that each employee exits a space during an emergency evacuation, so this segment of the course is an important and valuable one.

Fire fighting and safety awareness

Fire fighting and safety awareness includes the following 3 aspects:

1. The management activities put in place to prevent fires from occurring in the first place.
2. The controls that are in place that manage fire systems in the event of emergencies
3. In the event of an uncontrolled fire, the trained suppression methods that are utilised in order to extinguish it.

We like to consider fire safety awareness as an attitude that can be instilled, that helps participants to become confident in the following 4 basic areas:

1. The causes of fire
2. The nature of fire
3. Fire’s behaviour
4. Fire safety management

The latter, itself, comprises 3 more and very essential elements that are included in our course:

1. Prevention
2. Protection
3. Prevention

Participants completing this segment of the course will gain a basic understanding of the science behind fire as well as the typical workplace hazards that are frequently associated with fires. They will also come to learn about the behaviour of fire. Many argue that fire has certain behaviour characteristics that must adhere to the following 5 principles:

• Oxygen increases the intensity of fire
• Fire has to obey physical laws in its behaviour
• It is the vapor that burns
• Where there is fire, there is certainly smoke
• Cooling, smothering and starving are the methods of dealing with fire

Our fire safety section will provide participants with the basic knowledge they will need in the event of a fire in the workplace, whether that entails avoidance or in fact attempting to smother or starve a fire.

Why choose Emcare’s health and safety training induction course?

With a variety of companies offering similar induction trainings, you may be wondering as to why you should choose Emcare as your health and safety training provider. We are an experienced, caring and devoted company, committed to providing only the highest quality of training to all participants who walk through our many branches, each of which hold high the standards of our service. For more information on this course, and the plethora of other courses we have on offer, please do not hesitate to contact us.