Health and safety training is important for small businesses to avoid costs from lost productivity, higher insurance premiums, and lawsuits. Training should cover fire safety, first aid, injury prevention, and dealing with workplace violence. It does not need to be long but should address the main hazards of each workplace. Employers should designate a safety officer to organize training programs and ensure safety procedures and equipment are up to date.

1. Health and Safety
Training: A Must for Small
Businesses
By Floyd Arthur

2. If you own a small
business, health and
safety training for your
employees may be the

3. furthest thing from your
mind. Dealing with daily
operations, budgets,
payroll,

4. employee issues and
ever-increasing
regulatory demands are
almost certainly much

5. higher on your list of to-
dos. Nevertheless, failing
to provide your staff with
basic

6. workplace health and
safety training can cost
you in many ways,
including lost
productivity,

7. higher worker’s
compensation premiums,
low employee morale and
even a lawsuit.

8. Basic Health and Safety
Training

9. Health and safety training
does not need to be
lengthy or complex.
However, it should cover

10. the most important
hazards inherent in your
workplace. For most
businesses, these
include:

11. Fire and Emergency
Preparedness

12. Train all of your
supervisors, managers
and employees as to their
roles and

13. responsibilities in the
event of a fire, chemical
spill, natural disaster or
similar event. For

14. employees, this can be a
quarterly review of the
locations of fire
extinguishers,
emergency exits,

15. chemical spill kits,
shelter-in-place
procedures and building
evacuation plans.

16. If your business uses
hazardous
substances,health and
safety training should
also

17. include information on
the location of Hazard
Communication Safety
Data

18. Sheets (formerly known
as Material Data Safety
Sheets or MSDS) and
appropriate

19. procedures for
containing, reporting or
cleaning up a hazardous
material spill.

20. Additional training for
managers and
supervisors should
include, at minimum:

21. * Supervisor’s and
manager’s roles and
responsibilities

22. * Where and how to
access a contact list for
key personnel

23. * Key elements of your
business continuation
plan

24. Additionally, make sure
you have an emergency
preparedness plan.
Designate a safety

25. officer to be responsible
for organizing the
company’s health and
safety training

26. program and ensuring
that all of your
procedures and
equipment are up to date.

27. Emergency Health
Training

28. Health-related
emergencies can happen
anywhere and at any
time, so train key

29. employees to respond
appropriately to such
events. This includes:

30. * Basic Life Support:
Training in basic life
support prepares your
employees to respond to
a heart

31. or breathing-related
emergency during the
first critical minutes
before first-responders
arrive.

32. * HeartSaver (CPR and
AED) This training
prepares employees to
respond to a sudden
cardiac

33. arrest using an automatic
external defibrillator and
cardiopulmonary
resuscitation. (Note:
Many

34. states mandate specific
training requirements for
businesses that have an
AED on site.) Contact

35. The American Heart
Association for more
information about
training programs in your
area.

36. Injury Prevention

37. On the job injuries are a
major cause of loss
productivity and can
easily result in a

38. worker’s compensation
claim.Training all of your
employees to spot and
report

39. workplace safety hazards
to supervisors
immediately, and
empowering

40. supervisors to make
necessary adjustments
or repairs is the most
effective

41. way to minimize hazards
on the job.

42. Injury prevention may
also include ergonomics
training, which aids in the
prevention of

43. back injuries and injuries
caused by repetitive
stress. Consider
organizing a one-day

44. workshop for managers
and supervisors to build
awareness of the
importance of

45. ergonomics in the
workplace. Then invest in
4 to 8 hours of training for
all employees.

46. Key elements in
ergonomics training
include:

47. * Identifying problem
areas, such as poorly
designed work stations
or inconvenient
placement of supplies.

48. * Identifying solutions,
which may involve
changes to the office
environment or physical
plant.

49. * Building employee
awareness of the
importance of
ergonomics to their long
term health

50. * Didactic and hands-on
training to address
specific issues, such as
the proper use of

51. equipment and the
importance of proper
posture to back health.

52. Workplace Violence

53. Violence in the workplace
is a growing problem in
the United States, with
nearly 2

54. million workers reporting
an episode of workplace
violence each year. Of the
approximately

55. 4,500 workplace
fatalities in 2014, 403, or
about 10 percent, were
homicides.

56. One of the most effective
tools in preventing
workplace violence is
implementing a zero-

57. tolerance policy towards
any form of physical
violence, harassment or
verbal abuse.

58. Communicate this policy
clearly and in writing to
all employees,
supervisors and

59. management personnel,
and make the
consequences of
violating it crystal clear..

60. Additionally, you may
wish to provide
employees who work with
the public in high-risk

61. situations with training in
conflict resolution, de-
escalation strategies and
appropriate

62. nonviolent responses to
aggression. All
employees should also
receive training in how to

63. spot the signs of
domestic violence and
approach a co-worker
who may be experiencing
abuse.

64. At Carmoon Group, our top
priority is helping you
manage risk. Not only do
we design

65. comprehensive,
affordable insurance
solutions to meet your
needs, we can also advise

66. you on how to prevent
accidents, injuries and
costly claims. Give us a
call today at 516-

67. 292-3780 to set up an
appointment to discuss
your needs -- we are here
Monday

68. through Friday 9 a.m. to 6
p.m. Too busy to call
during regular business
hours? No problem.

69. Simply request a free
consultation online now
and we will get back to
you at a convenient time.

70. Visit
www.Carmoongroup.com
for FREE 30-minute
consultation now!