All people at work need to know how to work safely and without risks to health.
Employers are required by law to provide clear instructions, information and adequate training for employees. Employers also have responsibilities to ensure contractors and self-employed people working for them have information on:
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hazards and risks they may face;
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measures in place to deal with those hazards and risks;
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how to follow any emergency procedures.
Health and safety training should take place during working hours and must not be paid for by employees.
Training records should be kept.
Information and training should be in a form that is easy to understand – this requires that there is consideration of language, disabilities, experience and capabilities. Ultimately, everyone working should know what they are expected to do.
Some people may also have particular training needs, for example:
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new recruits;
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people changing jobs, taking on extra responsibilities, using new equipment or changing working practices
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young employees, who are particularly vulnerable to accidents;
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health and safety representatives.
There are particular laws relating to the protection of young people at work |and the functions and training of health and safety representatives |.
Although t here are many external trainers who can provide training it is important to remember that effective training can often be done ‘in house’ and for most situations there is no legal requirement to attend a formal training course or obtain a qualification. The necessary skills may be obtained in other ways, such as supervision, on-the-job training, self-study or relevant prior experience.
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) holds a register of accredited Health and Safety Consultants on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They also provide workplace training courses including various health and safety topics.
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