Take A Safety Officer Course For High-Risk Job

A safety officer course is important for those looking to take up health and safety work in high-risk industries. The occupation of a safety officer is a very important job in industries which have high levels of risk for their employees. In fact, the safety of the employees relies on the assumption that safety officers correctly perform their job.

It is therefore imperative that safety officers train and graduate at the expected skill level which is accredited by the Department of Labour. This accredited skill level is offered by us at EMCARE, a South African organisation whose safety officer course provides the necessary knowledge for students to become effective in their respective careers. Keep reading as we cover everything you need to know about operating as a safety officer in high-risk industries.

What Does A Safety Officer Course Prepare You For?

Our safety officer course at EMCARE teaches students to recognize a safe working environment for employees and other interacting parties, while also improving and implementing safety programs and procedures in the workplace. The safety officer course ensures that students are aware of compliance with safety regulations and legislation so that the trained safety officers are able to carry out the necessary safety inspections and risk assessments.

A safety officer course should prepare an individual to make emergency decisions and plans under stressful conditions, thus the art of keeping cool and collected is a very necessary quality to learn in this field of work. It may sound complicated, but as a trained safety officer, one is simply expected to enforce the safety standards and processors while also providing the correct statistics to management for reviews and approvals. This will reflect the safety evaluation of the organisation; something that must be done in order for a workplace to run smoothly and most importantly, safely.

What Jobs Require A Safety Officer Course?

You may be wondering who actually needs this course and training. Although it often goes unknown, there are countless organisations in many different industries all over the world where well-trained safety officers are needed. Safety officers will find that their work environment is closely tied to the industry in which they choose to proceed in. For example, a safety officer in a corporate business will experience a very different workday and environment than that of a safety officer working in the mining industry.

This simply has to do with the type of work that the organisation is affiliated with as some occupations and organisations encounter risker situations on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, the organisation will need a reliable safety officer with professional training from an accredited safety officer course.

A safety officer course is usually attractive to larger organisations that operate in high-risk industries that require very precise and controlled safety measures and evaluations. By having a safety officer on site, the well-being of all parties involved in the organisation is ensured and everyone involved is kept alive and safe.

Some of these high-risk industries include the mining industry, construction and building industry, and even the engineering industry. These are all classified as high-risk as the job entrusted to the employees could potentially pose a threat to their safety, health, and even their lives.

To reduce this risk, great measures must be followed, and the occupation of a safety officer must be taken seriously. Thus it is imperative that the safety officer has fully completed a safety officer course. It only makes sense that there should be someone out there in the field who needs to know how to keep everyone safe in a dangerous line of work.

Safety Officers In The Mining Industry

Safety officers in the mining industry have very important jobs as they are responsible for overseeing the safety of the environment and the people in the mines. Because mining requires employees to work in small, confined spaces, hundreds of metres underground, the safety regulations have to be enforced with very strict authority and precise monitoring, to ensure the safety of the lives of the employees.

In South Africa, there have been countless reports in high-risk industries, like mining, of devastating incidents which have resulted in casualties simply because safety precautions and policies were not followed or implemented in the correct manner; an easily avoidable tragedy caused by human error or incompetency. In addition to this, the 2021 report published by the Mineral Council of South Africa states that fatalities have increased by a shocking 23% from 2020 to 2021, making the total number of fatalities in 2021, 74.

Although this statistic represents an overall decline of 88% in mining fatalities since 1993, the increase in fatalities over the past two years is unacceptable to the employees of the mining industry as safe working conditions are not only expected but are a human right. This has also caused concern among stakeholders of the mining industry.

Although many safety officers have the same goal, which is to ensure the safety of the operation and the employees, the details of the job will vary according to the industry that is chosen to enter.

About EMCARE

With all this in mind, you might be wondering what institutions are recognized to provide this level of training. EMCARE is an organisation affiliated with the department of labour and the lessons are taught by qualified level 6 life support paramedics or by people with higher qualifications than that with a minimum of 1000 hours of work experience in emergency services.

Providing good teachers ensures a high standard of learning, and the result of training with us at EMCARE is that the graduate will possess the necessary skills to handle intense situations and create favourable outcomes. Whether you are working at a high-risk mining job or regulating the health and safety of office spaces, EMCARE will provide you with the appropriate skill set to be able to take on any risk-assessment situation.