Every business needs certain documents. You have to file things like Articles of Incorporation and annual reports. But you also need compliance documents. This series of documents includes safety programs.
If your business does not have a safety program, you risk fines from the government. But more importantly, you risk the safety of your employees. That’s why it is essential to go beyond the basics and offer a world-class safety program.
Whether your business deals with construction or conducts all work inside an office, a safety program can help keep your employees safe and your business compliant, reducing unnecessary fines, and maintaining company assets. That starts with a safety audit.
The first step to take when setting up your safety program is to conduct a safety audit. Ideally, this includes a full review of your existing safety program to ensure it is up to date. But if you do not have a safety program, you have more work cut out for you.
Laws and regulations may have changed, and your program needs updating. That's why it's a good company strategy to set annual reviews of your safety and compliance programs to make any updates necessary. You may even need to add or remove parts of the program based on new laws.
When you hire a new employee, it's imperative that you provide them the necessary training as soon as possible. Your safety program should be part of the employee onboarding experience. This training should include safety features of all equipment the employee may encounter, not just the equipment the employee will use every day.
You also need to set up a recurring schedule for training your existing employees. Recertification of their training is essential. If you provide employees with safety training on their first day, but never again, you may be out of compliance. Annual recertification of all training, including safety training, is vital to keep your employees safe and your business on the right side of the law.
A proper safety program does not just include information about specific equipment and procedures but also provides educational material. Setting up your safety programs like a classroom with instruction and testing will ensure that even if something terrible happens, your business has taken the necessary steps to ensure compliance and help keep your business clear of legal issues.
However, getting employees and managers to physically sit in the same room, simultaneously, physically can be a hassle in terms of time management. That is why world-class safety programs use online training methods.
Most people read emails, watch videos, and read on their mobile phones. To get the most out of your training and education program, you need to push your content where your employees see it — on their mobile phones. Bringing the training to them makes it much easier for them and more likely that they will participate in the training and learn the material.
Creating a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for your business streamlines your business processes, including your safety training. You want to ensure you train your employees on your equipment and ensure your business protects its proprietary tools.
That’s why world-class safety instructors will write SOPs for your proprietary equipment since none will be available online. SOPs should be included in any safety program as opposed to a separate add-on cost.
Once your training program is complete, you need a place to house it. Training videos, testing, and recertification should live online to provide easy access to your team.
By providing a searchable database for your employees to view at their convenience, you make it more likely that your employees will read and understand the safety information after their initial training. Maintaining a database also makes it easy for you to update the training materials annually, if necessary.
When creating a safety program for your business, you have two options: create one by yourself and not know if it's fully compliant and up to date or get access to Zamp HR's world-class safety programs and all the other services we offer.
When you work with us, you can trust that our safety program is up to date and legally compliant, but it's also tailored to your business’s specific needs. Whether your business is high-risk like construction or lower-risk like an office, any safety program you enact must be legally compliant and provide your employees with accurate information.
Beyond that, our safety program goes above and beyond the basics to ensure employees retain their training without forcing them to sit through physical classes. If you use proprietary equipment, we will create SOPs and policies for them at no additional charge.
Besides our safety program, you also gain access to other benefits that can help engage your employees and reduce your overall costs. Contact us today to learn how we can help your business create a world-class safety program specifically for you.