- Occupational safety and health (OSH) education and training programs are tools for instructing about workplace hazards and how to control them.
- Education and training inform workers and managers about OSH and equip them with specific knowledge and skills required to perform their designated roles.
- Education and training are an ongoing process that must be developed with the objectives and involvement of participants in mind for success.
Training and education should not be undertaken just to meet government regulations or reduce insurance costs. By ensuring safe work behavior, education, and training, employers empower personnel to make their workplace safer and healthier for themselves and others instead of simply complying with management safety protocols. Find out how education and training programs are designed to inform workers and managers about the hazards and controls in their facilities that make their workplace safer and healthier.
Need for Education and Training Programs
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 24% of global diseases and deaths are due to hazardous occupational and environmental exposures. As chemical production increases, the number of people working in these factories rises. It has resulted in a growing number of occupational accidents and health risks for workers, raising a demand for education and training in occupational safety and health (OSH).
However, the lack of enough occupational health professionals and knowledge is a challenge that must be overcome, especially in low—and middle-income countries, to provide the required education and training.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has established guidelines, the ILO-OSH 2001, for developing occupational safety and health education and training programs to ease this situation. In several countries, international models produced by a multidisciplinary approach design participatory worker training programs suitable for their national conditions.
Aim of the OSH Education and Training Programs
Education and training programs help industries avoid relying only on government regulations and inspections to maintain OSH. The education and training programs for industry owners, managers, supervisors, and personnel have the following aims:
- Provide knowledge and skills to work safely to prevent hazards that harm them and others.
- The programs inform people of potential workplace hazards in their facilities and teach how to identify, report, and control these risks.
- Give specialized training, when necessary, for any unique hazards workers may face.
Education and training are provided through classroom settings, lectures, story-telling, an arts-based approach, quizzes and games, role plays, computer-based instructions, and simulations. Depending on the program objective, it can be direct worker or peer-to-peer training, worksite demonstrations, and on-the-job training.
In the US, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that education and training programs for employers, managers, supervisors, and workers must cover the following points:
- Inform the attendees about the topics covered in the OSH program that each facility must have.
- Provide comprehensive training to employers, managers, and supervisors on achieving OSH.
- Train the workers in their roles in the OSH program and teach them how to identify and control workplace hazards.
Education and Training Program Awareness
All members, from employers to workers, must understand the OSH program’s structure and procedures to help develop and implement the program. The following steps are used to achieve this aim.
- Train managers, supervisors, contractors, and permanent and temporary workers about OSH goals, policies, procedures, and functions in the local language at literacy levels that all workers can follow.
- This includes information on the employer’s responsibility and workers’ rights guaranteed according to the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
- Inform how to respond to emergencies and report injuries, illness, hazards, and near misses.
- Mention the person to contact for more information on the OSH program.
- Give information on OSH hazards at the workplace and how to control these incidents.
- Ensure workers know they can report hazards, injuries, incidents, and other concerns without fear of retaliation.
- Underline the importance of everyone’s participation in making the facility’s OSH program effective.
Understanding the OSH program assures everyone of their rights and supports their needs.
Train Employers, Managers, and Supervisors
People in leadership positions get different training than workers, considering the possibility that employers, supervisors, and managers have little or no training in OSH concepts and methods.
- First, the leaders should be informed of their responsibilities as stated in the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
- Teach the leaders basic concepts and methods for recognizing and controlling hazards, such as the hierarchy of controls.
- Train people in leadership roles on how to respond to workers’ reports and concerns about OSH. This includes using investigation techniques to find the root causes of reported problems.
The people in leadership roles must have the information and skills to lead the staff in case of any emergencies.
Train the Workers in the OSH Program
The OSH program must cover training specific to the workers’ roles so that they learn the necessary protocols they must integrate into their daily routines.
- Instruct workers on reporting incidents, concerns, injuries, and illnesses. Places with computerized systems must ensure workers have computer skills and access to devices to file reports.
- Personnel with particular OSH tasks will require training in discharging their responsibility in hazard training and controls, helping with incident investigations, program improvement, and evaluation.
- Workers must have the chance to provide feedback during and after training.
- Develop a formal method for determining the training needs of specific workers who are responsible for implementing and maintaining the OSH program.
Training Workers in Hazard Identification and Control
The ability of workers to recognize and control is crucial in ensuring workplace safety. Hence, workers must get the following training:
- Workers must be aware of the general hazards and dangers in their workplace.
- Learn how to spot dangers through job hazard analysis techniques.
- Instruct workers in concepts and techniques for controlling and minimizing potential hazards using the hierarchy of controls.
- Train workers in using administrative controls, safe work practices, and when and how to use appropriate personal protective equipment.
- Additional training should be conducted when changes in the facilities, work organization, equipment, or materials can increase OSH hazards. Or when a worker is given a new role.
Figure 1: The various education and training objectives according to ILO. (Image credits: https://www.iloencyclopaedia.org/part-iii-48230/education-and-training/item/90-worker-education-and-training)
Designing OSH Education and Training Programs
OSH education and training cannot be a one-time event but a process. According to ILO, some standard steps used to develop a suitable training program that will ensure OSH are as follows:
Assessing needs: Each industry will have specific hazards, and the education and training program must support its customized OSH program. So, assessment requires research on the industry’s dangers, the people involved, and the social background.
Gaining participants’ support: To be effective, the people for whom the training is conducted must be involved, starting from its planning stages. Not only the employers but also labor unions or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) could support education and training.
Training objectives: Training and education for an effective OSH can have several objectives, like providing workers with technical information, teaching technical skills for specific tasks, changing attitudes, changing individual involvement, and increasing actions for collective safety. These objectives have a hierarchy, see Figure 1, where passing on information is the first and easiest objective while the last step of working for collective OSH is the most challenging.
Content: The content of each training program depends on the needs or hazards assessed. For example, health hazards due to exposure, hazard identification, control, legal rights, union provisions for safety and health, etc.
Education methods: The methods will depend on the education objective. Lectures or films are suitable for information, while case studies and role plays are practical for teaching about collective action.
Implementation: A well-designed education and training program is easy for professional educators to implement. The use of well-trained peers in education is also increasing.
Evaluation and follow-up: Evaluation is crucial to ascertain if the training has achieved change that will improve OSH. After training, it helps attendees understand what they learned and shows educators how practical the training was. Nowadays, evaluation is broader and covers workplace assessment of workers’ actions and actual changes post-training.
Using Equipment Effectively
Part of the OSH training program must include the proper use and maintenance of all equipment, including hazard detectors. For example, fixed and portable gas analyzers monitor the environment and alert staff to above-permissible exposure levels. It helps initiate emergency procedures to ensure workers’ safety and health. These gas detectors must be checked by bump testing and calibrated for maintenance. Though simple, workers must know how maintenance is done and report out-of-date equipment. Ultimately, the safety and health of workers depend on cooperation between staff, management, and employers.
Check out Interscan’s gas analyzers and how they can improve the OSH of your factories.
Sources
ILO. (2011, Jan 23). Worker Education and Training. Retrieved from https://www.iloencyclopaedia.org/part-iii-48230/education-and-training/item/90-worker-education-and-training
ILO. (n.d.). How can occupational safety and health be managed? Retrieved from https://www.ilo.org/topics/ labour-administration-and-inspection/resources-library/occupational-safety-and-health-guide-labour-inspectors-and-other/how-can-occupational-safety-and-health-be-managed
Lucchini, R. G., McDiarmid, M., Van der Laan, G., Rosen, M., Placidi, D., Radon, K., Ruchirawat, M., Kurtz, L., & Landrigan, P. (2018). Education and Training: Key Factors in Global Occupational and Environmental Health. Annals of global health, 84(3), 436–441. https://doi.org/10.29024/aogh.2328
O’Connor, T., Flynn, M., Weinstock, D., & Zanoni, J. (2014). Occupational safety and health education and training for underserved populations. New solutions: a journal of environmental and occupational health policy: NS, 24(1), 83–106. https://doi.org/10.2190/NS.24.1.d
OSHA. (n.d.). Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/safety-management/education-training#ai1
