In workplaces across a broad range of sectors, the goal everyone on-site really cares about is simple: we all want to go home in one piece. That clunky old binder sitting in the back office might be where all your safety procedures live, but those protocols need to make it out of the binder and onto the floor where your people are if you want to ensure this shared objective is prioritised.
Training is how you get that done. Unfortunately, many businesses in the field treat training as more of a box-ticking exercise than something that truly engages their staff. That creates negative safety outcomes for them, and this means you risk fines, injuries, or – worst-case scenario – fatalities on the job.
The key, as it has always been, is culture. To build a robust safety culture in your business, you should use a workplace training checklist as your baseline and build from there. As your local work safety experts and the builders of on-site workplace safety software, we’re here to help you get it done.
Here are ten WHS training topics that your workplace should cover this year.
1. Identifying hazards and assessing risks.
Your workers can’t avoid a hazard if they don’t know how to spot it in the first place. The thing is, the site is changing all the time, so one of the most important WHS training topics to address with your team is hazardous risk assessment.
Training like this should focus on teaching staff how to actively scan their changing environment, use the ‘Take ‘ framework, and categorise the seriousness of any risks they identify.
The Hierarchy of Controls is also important here. If they find a risk, then they need to know which level of control is required and how to raise it to you if necessary.
2. Your emergency response and evacuation protocols.
Next on our list of WHS training topics is a no-brainer: your emergency protocols. Whether you’re on a temporary site with your team or you have a static office, crises can hit at any moment, so it’s important that everyone knows what to do and where to go.
Most of the time, this means drilling what to do in the event of a fire, chemical, or earthquake alarm. Everyone should know how to safely evacuate from any point in the building, whether they have a role in the crisis (i.e. roll call), and where to assemble. If your team operates heavy machinery, define when and how they should shut it down.
Run this training for your team members and marshals to tick off both aspects of this workplace training checklist entry.
H2: 3. Manual handling (including ergonomic safety).
Blown-out lower backs, torn shoulders, and RSIs are some of the most common workplace injuries. Almost every single industry deals with them, but none more so than civil, industrial, and construction.
Manual handling instructions need to be hands-on and practical. Teach your team the mechanics of safe lifting: keeping the load close to the body’s centre of gravity, avoiding dangerous twisting motions under load, and using the legs instead of the spine to drive the lift.
For office-based staff, focus on ergonomic workstation setups to eliminate chronic neck and wrist strain.
4. Using and maintaining Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
If your staff are wearing their PPE poorly, then the protection offered by that equipment drops to zero. You need to make sure your workers – even your subcontractors – know how to use their equipment, how to check it before each shift, and who to talk to if something isn’t working.
One of the most important WHS training topics is covering when PPE is legally required. This helps you to avoid hefty fines, which can be applied even if nothing goes wrong on-site.
5. Fire safety.
While it’s important to know how to evacuate and what to do in a serious emergency, it’s also important to equip your people with the tools to manage a small, localised fire should one ever break out.
Even a small fire can consume an entire warehouse in mere minutes, so try to address two things with your training:
1) Understanding the size and type of fire in front of them, so they can assess whether or not to try and put it out themselves.
2) How and when to use on-site fire safety mechanisms like hoses, fire extinguishers, and alarms.
Spraying a standard water extinguisher onto a volatile electrical fire or a bubbling commercial grease kitchen fire is catastrophic. Teaching them to recognise the difference between A, B, C, and E-class fires saves lives.
6. HAZCHEM safety.
On some sites, hazardous substances are highly prevalent. If your workers are mixing chemicals without the necessary expertise, they could unknowingly create toxic gas that can be harmful to anyone present. Not to mention, improper use of chemicals is a regulatory time bomb.
This part of your workplace training checklist teaches team members to accurately read and interpret Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) and official chemical labels. That means no dangerous mixing or contamination, and clear knowledge of what to do in the event of a spill.
7. Preventing slips, trips, and falls.
It sounds basic, but simple slips and trips remain the leading cause of major workplace concussions, fractures, and broken bones. A stray extension cord across a hallway, a leaking water dispenser, or a poorly lit stairwell can sideline a worker for months.
This is why preventing falls is one of the most important WHS training topics on this list. Training your team involves encouraging situational awareness, building a culture of shared responsibility, and teaching everyone that housekeeping is a shared responsibility. If someone spots a spill, loose wire, or other trip hazard, they should know to either clean it up or report it and mark it clearly before moving on.
8. Handling first aid (for your team and for first-aid officers).
If one of your people suffers a severe injury, every single second counts.
You should always have certified first-aid officers on your roster, but they can’t be everywhere at once. This means your general staff need basic first-aid training so everyone can help keep one another safe.
Your team must know exactly where the primary medical kits are located, how to access automated external defibrillators (AEDs), and how to raise an internal medical alarm. They must also learn how to preserve an incident site for regulatory investigations if anyone is ever seriously injured on-site.
9. Dealing with fatigue or exhaustion.
While it’s not the most well-known topic on a workplace training checklist, dealing with hidden fatigue is massively important. Anyone who is properly sleep-deprived has the same hand-eye coordination and recorded reaction times as someone who is under the influence of alcohol. It’s potentially very dangerous and an issue that needs to be taken seriously.
You want to make sure your team understands the importance of coming to work well-rested, but there’s more. Teach them to identify the signs of serious fatigue, such as slurred words, lapses in attention, or even microsleeps. Teach them what to do when they think someone is too tired to be at work.
It’s a no-brainer that you want to avoid someone badly sleep-deprived getting behind the wheel of a five-ton forklift.
10. Working with workplace safety software.
Finally, if you have dedicated workplace safety software like SiteConnect, it’s important that your team members know exactly how to use it. This is where they will log near-miss incidents, complete inductions, and access SSSPs. If your team isn’t sure how to use the software you’ve chosen, then it defeats the purpose of having it!
This is why it’s important to:
1) Choose an intuitive software that’s easy to use for first-timers, and
2) Give every newbie a quick training on how to use it.
This entire workplace training checklist should equip you and your people with everything you need to build a robust safety culture at work. By ticking these off and staying up to date on any policy changes, you can make sure everyone goes home in one piece.
Let’s get everyone home safe. Explore the SiteConnect workplace safety software.
We have built simple, easy-to-use, intuitive workplace safety software for use in workplaces across New Zealand and Australia, so you can keep your people safe. Book a demo with us today.
