As your first line of defence, ensuring that your line managers are adequately trained in Health and Safety matters, will help your organisation prevent accidents, avoid costly legal bills and most importantly, save lives!

Support and leadership from your board of directors is key to your business success.  A strong, clear and concise Health and Safety Policy should be central to your business culture and highlight your organisation’s values and standards.

“An organisation will never be able to achieve the highest standards of health and safety management without the active involvement of directors. External stakeholders viewing the organisation will observe the lack of direction.” (HSE).

Directors must ensure that Health and Safety is resourced adequately, risk assessments are performed, records and reports checked and all managers are responsible individuals, willing to promote and enforce Health and Safety practices.

As line managers provide a link between your workforce and Health and Safety practice in the workplace, it is essential that regular in-depth training is provided. Managers must have a clear understanding of, and actively promote, policies and procedures and be aware of their company’s legal duties.  Line managers must be competent in performing risk assessments, implement effective control measures and capable of thorough incident investigation.  

Training must include emergency procedures, first aid, accident reporting, good housekeeping skills and the avoidance of hazards.

Where can you find quality online Health and Safety Training for managers?

VinciWorks Managing Health and Safety eLearning course explains the importance of Health and Safety training for line managers in the workplace, helping them develop and communicate an understanding of Health and Safety legislation. The online course highlights key responsibilities and duties under the legislation, the requirement to implement a Health and Safety Policy and the role managers should play in that implementation. It also explores the role of the Health and Safety Executive, and the powers they have to monitor and investigate health and safety in the workplace.

A course references a range of applicable legislation, including the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974; The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations; The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations; The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations; The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations; The Manual Handling Operations Regulations; The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations; and the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act. The course highlights managerial responsibilities in relation to this legislation.

The eLearning course also demonstrates the importance of carrying out regular risk assessments, to identify potential hazards and the need for controlling and managing risks. It guides managers through the process of how to record and report an accident, should one occur.

As with all our courses, VinciWorks Managing Health and Safety eLearning course can be customised to meet your needs, enabling your workforce to understand the specific policies and procedures you have developed for managers within your organisation. A designated course administrator can edit the text and images within the course, and link to organisation-specific documentation, all at no extra cost.