With the end of year fast approaching, many organisations are looking to spend their yearly budget, so why not spend it on something useful – like an IOSH course for example? When looking to spend their end of year budget, many people end up spending it on marketing materials or end of year parties. We suggest putting your budget to a good use and what is better than spending out on health and safety?
Health and safety in the workplace is vital for organisations for a number of reasons. Whatever industry you work within, there is always the possibility of a health and safety accident occurring which could damage someone’s health. Everyone's work exposes them to hazards. Even in an office, you could be at risk of electrocution, tripping or slipping on paper. In fact within an office, tripping on electrical wires is one of the most common hazards reported.
The reasons these accidents will generally happen is because the correct systems have not been put in place initially to prevent them. As health and safety laws have become stricter over the years, many older businesses have been left behind with legislations. The concept of a safe workplace doesn't happen by accident. Generally a place is safe because the organisation has worked hard to ensure it is, it will have been built up over time. Many accidents which happen could have been prevented with the correct safety training.
Of course, as well as the cost to workers health, there are also financial costs which occur when an accident happens. In the last report undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive, it was shown that 26.4 million working days were lost over 2010/11 due to work related illness and injury. Whilst larger organisations may be able to cope with absences at work, smaller organisations will struggle. It is also interesting to note that smaller organisations often have the most accidents within the workplace.
So, how can you prevent these accidents from occurring? Whilst there is no 'quick fix', you could enrol some of your employees onto IOSH courses. Depending on their job title, they may be required to undertake different training courses. Depending on which course is taken, the IOSH courses teach delegates the basics of health and safety and how to run risk assessments.
Improved health and safety procedures don't happen overnight, but taking an IOSH course can put your organisation on the right track.