Game Changing Health and Safety Training Advice

At Virtual College, each and every online training course we produce is created in conjunction with subject matter experts. That way, you and your staff only ever get the most up-to-date and accurate information from professionals who know their stuff.

Liz Longman is one of our Health and Safety Partners at Virtual College, specialising in Workplace Health and Safety Training and Compliance. She’s here to give some vital health and safety training advice that anyone who’s responsible for their staff training needs to hear.

Why Your Current Training Approach Might Be Letting You Down

Do any of these responses sound familiar?

"The policy is there for them to read on the employee portal."

"They've been doing it for years, so they won't have an accident now."

"Do we really need to give them training on this?"

Liz tells us hears these from businesses she consults for all the time when asked about their staff training. This all too common complacency could leave your company vulnerable as it’s not enough to simply have a policy if your employees don’t understand what it means - especially if it doesn’t explain exactly what you need to do and why you need to do it. 

Liz explains why:

“Issuing a policy is not engaging. Your employees need to see the health and safety (H&S) policy and understand your company’s commitment to maintaining a safe workplace. However, reading a fifty-page H&S policy is extremely difficult if I were not in this field. A Health and Safety policy primarily outlines management responsibilities rather than guiding how employees can identify and manage hazards and risks. Selecting the right e-learning course offers a variety of activities that engage learners in different ways, helping them absorb the information more effectively. This approach allows for better retention and understanding than reading a lengthy document.”

You can’t know whether an employee has read the policy, let alone understood it. That’s where reflective assessments and quizzes in training come in handy.

Is Health And Safety Training A Legal Requirement?

Before we get into the health and safety training advice, it’s good to know your exact legal obligations. 

In answer, yes. Health and safety training is a legal requirement in the UK, not just a nice-to-have extra. Under The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, all employers must provide 'relevant information, instruction, training and supervision' to ensure their employees' safety.

This means you need to:

• Give your employees proper health and safety training when they start work
• Keep providing training when work risks change
• Make sure everyone understands their safety responsibilities
• Keep records of all training provided

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) can take action against businesses that don't meet these requirements. Getting it wrong could mean fines, legal problems and putting your team at risk.

Liz’s Top Health And Safety Training Advice & Tips

Here’s how to up your game when it comes to meeting your obligations to really help employees get to grips with the health and safety fundamentals they need to know.

1. Go Beyond Just Reading Policies

No one likes reading long policy documents and they’re notoriously poor for information retention. Your team needs training that gets them involved and interested. E-learning courses use different activities to make safety training stick in people's minds. 

Virtual College’s courses are intentionally designed with interactive elements, graphs, videos and imagery throughout for this reason.

2. Check Your Team’s Understanding

Unfortunately, getting someone to sign a policy doesn't mean they actually understand it. Most e-learning courses include tests that your team must pass, showing you they've actually learned what they need to know about safety.

Every Virtual College course is broken down into easy-to-understand modules with a final assessment to cement learnings.

3. Make Sure Everyone Gets the Same Training

Safety gets risky when different team members learn different things. E-learning gives everyone the same information in a standardised way, so your whole team has a shared understanding of safety procedures.

With Virtual College you can ensure your team all get the same great experience with the same key knowledge.

4. Use Training Created by Safety Experts

Your training needs to be totally current with legal requirements and actually prevent accidents. That’s why you should choose e-learning providers who work with real Health and Safety experts to create their courses. It will help you ensure you’re getting high-quality guidance that gives the best impact.

Every Virtual College course is created with the help of a subject-matter expert like Liz.

5. Remember Training is a Must

Health and safety training isn't optional in the UK - it's the law. You need it to protect both your team and your business from serious consequences.

Take all of the mandatory health and safety courses your staff need with our unlimited training subscription.

6. E-Learning Reinforces Safety Learnings

E-learning works best when you use it alongside your business’s safety documents and hands-on training. This gives your team a complete understanding of workplace safety that’s truly embedded into your company culture.

Our online learning courses are designed to complement your existing safety practices and enhance your overall training programme.

7. Keep Track of Training Without the Hassle

You shouldn't need complicated spreadsheets to manage training. E-learning systems do the hard work for you - tracking who's completed what and sending reminders when needed, meaning you can put your efforts elsewhere.

Let our innovative LMS help you manage the demands of employee training.

8. Cut Down on Sick Leave and Accidents

When people know how to work safely, you'll have fewer injuries and less stress. This means less sick pay, fewer legal problems, and no run-ins with safety authorities. That means health and safety training protects both you and your employees.

Virtual College's comprehensive health and safety courses help you create a safer workplace for all.

9. Protect Yourself Legally

If you ever face legal questions about safety, good e-learning records show you've done things properly. Without proper training records, you could struggle to prove your compliance.

All Virtual College courses provide detailed completion records and certificates, giving you solid evidence of your compliance efforts.

Access Instant E-learning With Virtual College

Has Liz’s health and safety training advice opened your eyes to the benefits you could reap from our online courses? We’ve got training that spans health and safety topics like Manual Handling in the Workplace to bundles like our Complete Health and Safety Package.