How to make sure your safety personnel are properly trained to run your safety program? This is been an age-old question that most companies have asked themselves at least once or twice throughout the years. Should you send them for all OH&S training in university, or do you send them for the training that certifying partners offer.
I guess it's really up to you as the manager to determine what training is required. In my opinion all health and safety personnel should have the minimum training that the certifying partners offer, but the more training acquired the better they will be able to adapt to certain situations as they arise. For example the more knowledge you have on the occupational health and safety codes the better you will be able to protect your company against violating those codes.
The Alberta construction safety association has many different courses that would give you a little bit of training in those areas, or a lot of training depending on what your company does. En-form also has a great deal of training programs that would assist most companies in training their safety personnel for the oil patch type of work.
One thing I would recommend for sure is to choose somebody for your health and safety program that you believe will stay with the company for a number of years. One of the biggest problems with safety personnel is that once they get all the training required, larger companies offer them more stable and rewarding positions that they simply can't refuse. Some companies have policies which state that if you leave the company within one year of receiving the training that you have to pay the training costs back. The easiest way to avoid these pitfalls is to appoint a workplace health and safety officer that you believe will stay with the company for at least three years. Choose a salary for the individual that is within the industry standards and carry-on.
As an owner of a business you should make it a point to take the auditing course through your certifying partner so that you can supervise your safety personnel and know they're doing their jobs correctly. As a safety consultant I have received many phone calls from managers and owners for the matter if their safety personnel quits the job, it can be the worst situation. In one case the safety person never actually did anything for almost 9 months. This is horribly frustrating for any manager or owner to realize they've been duped like this. Also if you do take the training then you will be able to provide guidance to your auditor on those important issues that touch both management and worker.
I guess it's really up to you as the manager to determine what training is required. In my opinion all health and safety personnel should have the minimum training that the certifying partners offer, but the more training acquired the better they will be able to adapt to certain situations as they arise. For example the more knowledge you have on the occupational health and safety codes the better you will be able to protect your company against violating those codes.
The Alberta construction safety association has many different courses that would give you a little bit of training in those areas, or a lot of training depending on what your company does. En-form also has a great deal of training programs that would assist most companies in training their safety personnel for the oil patch type of work.
One thing I would recommend for sure is to choose somebody for your health and safety program that you believe will stay with the company for a number of years. One of the biggest problems with safety personnel is that once they get all the training required, larger companies offer them more stable and rewarding positions that they simply can't refuse. Some companies have policies which state that if you leave the company within one year of receiving the training that you have to pay the training costs back. The easiest way to avoid these pitfalls is to appoint a workplace health and safety officer that you believe will stay with the company for at least three years. Choose a salary for the individual that is within the industry standards and carry-on.
As an owner of a business you should make it a point to take the auditing course through your certifying partner so that you can supervise your safety personnel and know they're doing their jobs correctly. As a safety consultant I have received many phone calls from managers and owners for the matter if their safety personnel quits the job, it can be the worst situation. In one case the safety person never actually did anything for almost 9 months. This is horribly frustrating for any manager or owner to realize they've been duped like this. Also if you do take the training then you will be able to provide guidance to your auditor on those important issues that touch both management and worker.
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