If the middle name of your business is safety, then there’s an added pressure to have robust and effective health and safety policy and procedures throughout the organisation. If what your business makes and sells is for the safety industry, then you’d better make sure that staff and management realise with clarity, their important role within that health and safety culture. It seems obvious why health and safety training matters, doesn’t it?
Hughes Safety Showers
is a successful global company developing, making and supplying safety equipment to high risk industries all over the world. They are well known for their innovations, awards and accolades.
Earlier last year, after a conversation with Tony Hughes, owner and MD, I had the privilege to train his workforce in the CIEH health and safety level 2 qualification. Over a period of four weeks I trained 57 people to work safely in all aspects of their role. The manufacturing site has nearly every hazard identified on the HSE website and it was easy to discuss live scenarios with them throughout the training.
I delivered the course over two days, since the course can be quite a lot to take in one one day and take an exam at the end. Day one was manual handling, COSHH – hazardous substances and fire safety awareness and day two; everything else. Delivering the training over two days gave the team more time to digest, review and practice what they had learnt. It also gave everyone an opportunity to come back on day two with specific work related questions that I was able to answer or encourage them to find the answer for themselves.
The groups were mixed employees; shop floor, office, accounts etc. and this is the best way to train a whole workforce in my eyes. By including all areas of the business operations, when it comes to practicing risk assessments (a big part of the course), each could bring a fresh view on the others work environment by seeing things that they had got used to. It means that change will be encouraged by all and everyone will be moving in the same health and safety direction.
What a fantastic team Tony Hughes has working for the business. I was truly impressed by the passion and commitment to the health, safety and welfare of themselves and others. Needless to say, the pass rate was exceptionally high.
This year I have returned to train the new starters that have been recruited since my last visit and I can already see that the legacy of the training has rubbed off on the ‘newbies’. Now that’s great feedback for me. That demonstrates that my training works every day.
At a post training review meeting with Steve Hudson, HR Group Manager, he made it very clear to me that the training had made a real positive difference to the team. He even went so far as “Michelle’s training has significantly raised the knowledge, competence and most importantly the profile of health and safety within the business. All the staff now have a health and safety qualification which also covers all our legislative requirements.
Michelle is now so ingrained into the culture at Hughes that it is not uncommon to hear the words “What would Michelle say?” when health and safety matters arise. I would endorse and recommend Michelle’s training to any organisation big or small.”
Wow! The best compliment that I ever had….
If you want the same result for your team, get in touch by email or call 0161 298 1040
It could be the best training that your teams ever have.
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