First published on Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Last updated on Friday, January 10, 2025
Providing health & safety training once is simply not enough. With regular updates to legislation and changes within your business, refreshers are certainly important to keep your employee’s knowledge and understanding up to date.
In Australia the law requires you to provide health & safety training to your employees. Not only must this be completed at the start of employment but it should consist of high quality content and be ongoing. You are also responsible for staying up to date on current and upcoming changes to regulations which apply to your industry. Making sure all team members are aware of necessary information.
When do employees require health & safety training?
There are certain times throughout their employment when employees will require health & safety training. This includes:
On the first day
When employees start a new job, or at least within the first few weeks of employment, they must complete the basic health & safety training required for their role. This will ensure that from day one they are aware of simple health & safety rules.
Such as:
Fire safety procedures
Who to speak to in case of an emergency
Accident reporting procedures
First aid arrangements
After an incident at work
If an incident has occurred and you feel it has not been handled correctly, it may be best to review your health & safety training processes. Giving your current employees a refresher and ensuring new employees understand your company’s procedures.
Not only this but training after an incident may help employees identify what they missed or where they went wrong so that this doesn’t happen again.
Ongoing training
Providing ongoing health & safety training throughout an employee’s time with your business is important to mitigate risks and prevent safety incidents from occurring.
Overtime it can be easy to forget what was mentioned on the first day of a new job, so checking in every now and then helps to guarantee that every member of staff is up-to-date and understands their role’s responsibilities in keeping your workplace a safe environment. Changes within a business to work practices, for example, may mean staff need to be updated on latest procedures.
Safe Work Australia advise providing training at the following times:
At induction
when you buy new equipment or substances
When jobs change
When the work environment changes
When there are new laws
After an OHS incident
What health and safety training is required?
The type of training required will differ depending on the individual worker and their role within the workplace. It is important to assess the workplace and the job role, to identify which types of training courses may be required. A risk assessment is one way you can identify hazards and assess the risks.
Costs and time required
As an employer it is your responsibility to source suitable training courses or to find a qualified training provider.
For employers OHS training should be considered a valuable investment that not only works to protect staff but also keeps the business legally compliant with health & safety legislation.
There’s a range of options when it comes to choosing the right health & safety training courses for your staff. From considering costs to relevancy and quality of training provided. You can choose to work with an external training provider or assign this job role to a competent and qualified member of staff.
With BrightSafe software you will gain free access to our range of health & safety e-learning courses, in addition to 24/7 health & safety advice, near-miss reporting, and our exclusive health & safety app.
Health & safety training records
Work health and safety (WHS) laws require you to keep training records. These apply to certain workplace tasks, for example working with hazardous chemicals. These training records ensure you are aware of who has completed training in your business and who may need additional training.
E-learning offers one of the best ways to provide quick, simple, and accessible training that your staff can complete anytime from any device. The benefits of health & safety e-learning therefore, make it a popular choice for many types of businesses.
Manage and keep track of health & safety training with BrightSafe
The BrightSafe health & safety software allows you to keep all your health & safety records and documentation in one easy-to-access platform. With online access, via a desktop or mobile device, you can assign important documents and courses to staff, making sure that everyone has signed, accessed and completed all essential and mandatory health & safety training and documentation.
Our health & safety learning management system provides you with free access to a wide range of e-learning courses. Suitable for a variety of industries, roles, and legal requirements.
Only a phone call away, BrightHR are here to support you, so you can be confident that your business is safe, and staff are protected. Book a free demo today to see BrightHR and BrightSafe in action.
