No matter what industry you work in, there are always going to be risks in the workplace that can cause serious accidents. Whether you drive a forklift, operate a crane or even pick & pack goods in a warehouse, and it is extremely important that you are trained correctly for the job you are performing.
Health and Safety statistics (HSE 2017/18):
• Over 1.4 million people affected by work related illnesses
• 144 fatalities in the workplace
• According to RIDDOR there have been 71,062 injuries to employees
• There have been 30.7 million working days lost due to accidents in the workplace
(all figures taken from http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/)
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Accidents
Accidents don’t just happen – in most cases it is due to people trying to take shortcuts, becoming complacent and not having general knowledge and understanding of how to operate certain machinery.
For example, forklifts are extremely dangerous if the safety principles are not understood and followed. If you operate a truck without being formally trained on how to do so – you are almost asking to have an accident.
Many injuries also come from manual handling errors. Most people are unaware of the accidents that can occur by lifting incorrectly, including back and abdominal injuries. The unfortunate fact is that once the damage is done, it is extremely hard to recover from them if possible, at all. Therefore, by being formally trained on how to correctly lift, you are reducing the likeliness to having an accident.
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The Main Aim
The aim of training is to educate everyone on how to keep themselves and others safe, no matter what work they are performing and to reduce the risks to health, safety and welfare.
Without training, the figures stated above would be much higher and this is why it is extremely vital to be trained on anything that you are unaware of.