Staff training can cause a lot of disruption to workplaces. Providing staff with the training they need to remain safe and legally compliant can be expensive and time consuming.

To help reduce the disruption training causes your business, ESS can deliver a number of our courses through in-company training. Today’s blog looks at some of the in-company training options we can provide your workforce.

What are the benefits of in-company training?

The benefits of in-company training are obvious, they allow training to take place with less disruption to workers. Allowing trainers to come and deliver training at your workplace reduces the cost and time-pressures involved when traveling to an external site.

In-company training allows learners to complete training in their own actual working environment, making it more relevant to their circumstances. This is especially important in practical training courses as it will help learners prepare for the specific dangers they face in their workplace.

What health and safety training do I need?

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA), there are certain obligations that employers need to meet to ensure they are protecting the safety of their workers. This includes ensuring that all workers have the appropriate level of training for their specific role on site.

While every worker and workplace will have different training demands, there are some courses which almost every organisation will benefit from training a number (if not all) of their staff in. These include:

- Manual Handling

Manual handling basically refers to moving objects with your body. Commonly this will be things like boxes and other office equipment, but different workplaces will have specific objects that need to moved. While this might not seem like an area of high risk, musculoskeletal disorders caused by manual handling is one of the biggest causes of workplace injury in the UK.

Our trainers can deliver this course to anyone in your workplace who are likely to need this training. Doing so will reduce the chances of injury in the workplace, saving the company money in the long term and fulfilling the employers duties to workers. Check out the ‘ESS Guide to Manual Handling’ for more information.

- First Aid

It is a legal requirement of every workplace to have at least one designated and trained First Aider on-site at all times. This is necessary so that your workplace has the personnel in place to perform emergency first aid procedures in the event of accidents and injuries in the workplace.

As an employer, you need to ensure you have a suitable number of first aiders trained for the size and scope of the business. You may want to train multiple members of staff in first aid to cover for potential staff absence.

As ESS, we provide two first aid training courses, the First Aid at Work and Emergency First Aid at Work. Both of these courses cover essential first aider skills such as performing CPR, treating wounds and managing unresponsive casualties. The First Aid at Work course takes place over 3 days and goes into more detail into handling specific first aid situations. The Emergency First Aid at Work course is only 1 day. Both courses are available for in-company training.

- Mental Health First Aid

As well as ensuring that workers have good physical health, it is also vital for employers to look out for worker mental health. This is where Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training comes in.

MHFA trains up learners to become a designated mental health first aider in their workplace. This means they will be the first port of call if someone at work is experiencing poor mental health. Through this learning, they will be able to identify the common signs of mental health problems and learn how to best assist them.

While having a mental health first aider isn’t a legal requirement like physical first aid, it does go a long way to establishing a culture in the workplace where people can discuss their mental health. This can help reduce staff absence levels and improve workforce morale.

- Fire Marshal Training

Fire safety training is critical in any workplace, with this issue receiving extra emphasis since the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017. Employers have a legal duty to have the correct policies, procedures and personnel in place manage fire risks on site.

In accordance with these responsibilities, organisations must have a designated fire marshal on site. Fire wardens ensure that on-site fire risk assessments are completed, fire alarms and extinguishers are in place and functioning, and that evacuation procedures are established.

To meet these requirements, we can provide our Fire Marshal/Warden course through in-company training. It will get learners up to speed with the requirements of the role in accordance with Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

In addition, we also provide the Fire Safety Awareness and Fire Extinguisher Training through in-company training to help your staff understand how to prevent fires from happening and how to react in the event of fire outbreak.

Further training

These courses are just the tip of the iceberg of what we can deliver for you through in-company training. For a full list of our courses, head over to our online index.

If you would like to speak to a member of our team to discuss your training needs, you can call us on 0115 8970 529. You can also email the team on [email protected].