On-demand webinar: Health and Safety in the Inflation Age

On-demand webinar: Health and Safety in the Inflation Age

With people suffering from sky-high inflation, a mortgage and rental crisis, strikes across the economy and a cost of living crisis that affects everyone’s pocket, does health and safety get forgotten about? HSE figures show people are still being killed and injured at work, but even the HSE is suffering from a 43% drop in funding and slashing staff almost in half.

For health and safety professionals, the challenge in today’s workplace is ensuring health and safety remains a top priority in a world of overlapping crises when many people are struggling to make ends meet. Health and safety has never been more important when an accident at work could leave people in an even worse position.

Watch our on-demand webinar, where we look at health and safety in the context of today’s economic challenges. We look at compliance lessons from other challenging times and understand the lessons we can learn in how to ensure health and safety remains front of mind for workers.

In this session, we discuss:

  • The impact of inflation and cost of living crisis on health and safety infrastructure
  • Recent cases and statistics of H&S challenges for businesses
  • Best practice in health and safety training and compliance
  • The risks to organisations in letting health and safety compliance slip
  • Lessons from compliance priorities in challenging times

Watch the on-demand webinar and learn to deal with H&S challenges in today’s economic climate.

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8 New Year’s health and safety resolutions employers should consider

8 New Year’s health and safety resolutions employers should consider

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With the start of a new year comes the opportunity to start afresh, and many of us are busy thinking about the positive changes we can make in the year ahead.

In the workplace, January is a perfect time to take stock and consider what’s working well, what needs updating and what new strategies can be put in place to ensure your employees, as well as your legal obligations, are being properly taken care of.

Stuck for ideas? Here’s just a few practical pledges that may help to enhance your health and safety culture and performance in 2023.

1. Make health and safety your mantra

Re-brand your health and safety management programme with an updated slogan and fresh vision for the year. This is a simple and effective way to remind workers of the importance of good health and safety practices, as well as demonstrate that you’re actively thinking about their welfare.

Remember, there’s no such thing as perfect health and safety management. It’s therefore essential to regularly evaluate your organisation’s safety culture and performance, and seek to continually improve matters.

2. Rethink and revisit training

Consider how well equipped employees are to undertake their role safely, without putting themselves or others at risk. If there are gaps in employees’ knowledge, if they haven’t received any refresher training since their induction, or if there have been changes to their role, the workplace or working practices, now is the time to think about what training courses might be appropriate.

As well as signalling to staff that you care about them and your organisation overall, investing in health and safety training is an effective way of reducing injury and illness, saving on the cost of absences, diminished productivity and increased insurance premiums. With this in mind, taking the time to upskill staff and refresh their knowledge should be high on your list of health and safety priorities for the year.

3. Revitalise your health and safety policy

When did you last review or update your health and safety policy or safety statement? The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommends that this should be reviewed at least annually, as well as whenever work practices or legislation changes.

Health and safety regulations are constantly evolving and the HSE regularly updates their guidance, conducts targeted campaigns and issues safety alerts, so it’s important that your policy and practices reflect the current position.

To make sure you get off on the right foot and promote best practice, start the year by reviewing your organisation’s policies and procedures to check they’re up to date, taking into account any changes to regulations, personnel and the work environment.

Remember, if you employ more than five members of staff, it is a legal requirement to have a written Health & Safety Policy.

4. Risk assess your environment

Like a health and safety policy, risk assessments are a mandatory requirement in any organisation. Their purpose is to help you identify hazards or risks in your workplace, then develop plans to either remove or reduce them. An up-to-date and correctly completed risk assessment will help to keep staff safe and ensure you’re complying with the health and safety law.

Risk assessments are living documents and should be reviewed at least annually, so now is an opportune time to re-do or revisit yours, especially if there have been significant changes in your activities, actual incidents or near misses, or if there is reason to believe your current risk assessment is no longer valid.

Our Risk Assessment Training courses explore why risk assessments matter and how to write an effective one.

5. Test your equipment

Check the inspection dates on all of your equipment, and if required, replace or update it. Similarly, make sure that fire extinguishers and alarms are in good working order and that first aid kits are fully stocked.

Don’t skimp on this resolution – always be thorough in your checks, and if equipment isn’t in tip-top condition, don’t risk it; make sure it’s out with the old and in with the new. Use this resolution as an opportunity to educate or remind staff of the regulations surrounding equipment.

6. Clear the workplace of hazards

Deep cleaning and decluttering the workplace will help to ensure your environment is safe and can go a long way towards preventing common slip, trip and fall incidents. Organising stray cables, clearing walkways of obstructions and checking that floor coverings are in good condition are simple and inexpensive ways to reduce risk over the year ahead.

7. Take time to reflect

Making New Year’s resolutions without taking stock of last year’s events is akin to setting half-baked goals. Look back at 2022 and identify any mistakes and successes that you can learn from, then use what happened to create specific and informed safety resolutions.

Were there any documented health hazards? How about slips, trips and falls? Were staff engaged in health and safety matters? Could any incidents have been prevented? Make a note of potential solutions, consult staff, and put measures in place to promote safer working in 2023.

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Freezing weather in the UK | When is it too cold to work?

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Snow and ice have caused huge disruptions recently as the UK has experienced its coldest weather spell in over a decade. With the Met Office issuing a yellow weather warning for most parts of the UK, the cold weather looks set to stay for a while longer.

Safe working conditions are vital in any workplace to maximise productivity and reduce the risk of illness or injury, however many people are unsure of the rules and regulations surrounding maximum and minimum temperature conditions in the workplace.

What is the legal minimum temperature for working indoors?

There are currently no laws that specify the minimum temperature for working indoors. However, the HSE’s Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1992, place a legal obligation on employers to provide a ‘reasonable’ temperature in the workplace. The regulations suggest that the typical workplace, where the activity is mainly sedentary – offices, for example – should be at least 16°.  If the work involves lots of physical activity – manual labour and warehouse work, for example – temperatures should not fall lower than 13°.

What is the minimum working temperature when working outside?

If employees work outdoors, there is no specific minimum temperature guideline. This is because it is not practical to maintain a workplace temperature in excess of 13 degrees when work is being done outside or if it involves working in freezers. However, it is critical that employers take all reasonable steps to reduce the obvious risks to employees which result from working in cold conditions. Employees should be encouraged to mention any existing health conditions that may make them susceptible to extreme temperatures.

What are the obligations as an employer?

Employers have a duty of care, rather than a legal obligation, to maintain safe working environments for their employees. Employers are expected to do whatever is ‘reasonably practicable’ to safeguard their workers’ wellbeing, and they must provide a safe environment where staff are not at risk of falling ill from the cold. The principle applies to all employees, even those working from home.

This requires carrying out regular risk assessments and acting on the results. Employers must also take into consideration those with existing health conditions that could be affected to a greater extent by the cold temperatures, such as those who are medically vulnerable or pregnant. In particular, those employees with heart/circulation and breathing problems such as emphysema may be more sensitive to working in cold temperatures.

The HSE provides some actions that employers can take to protect people working outdoors in extreme cold conditions.

  • Ensure the personal protective equipment issued is appropriate
  • Provide mobile facilities for warming up, and soup or hot drinks
  • Introduce more frequent rest breaks
  • Consider delaying the work until warmer times of the year without compromising on safety
  • Make sure workers can recognise the early symptoms of cold stress, such as a cough or body aches

Cold Weather Awareness eLearning

Want to know more about protecting your employees during extreme cold weather? We offer a Cold Weather Awareness eLearning course to help managers and employees manage the risks that can be caused by working in cold temperatures.

This course is part of our suite of Health and Safety eLearning solutions which includes courses on personal safety, risk assessments and working safely. You can either choose our eLearning courses as off-the-shelf packages, or we can tailor the content to suit your organisation. And because eLearning can be delivered conveniently at your own offices, using your existing PCs, it’s easy to keep your colleagues updated with the latest health and safety information.

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HSE statistics 2022 reveal a sharp rise in worker injuries

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The latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show a 28% increase in worker injuries year on year – and a steep increase in ill health compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The HSE has now released its annual summary statistics for Great Britain, providing new insight into health and safety at work in 2022.

At a headline level, 1.8 million workers suffered from work-related ill health (new or longstanding) in 2021/22, up 5.8% from last year. This reveals a worrying trend around mental health, although new cases are down, from 850,000 to 722,000.

Equally concerning is the fact that 565,000 workers sustained a non-fatal injury in 2021/22 according to self-reports – representing a year-on-year increase of 28%. Injuries reported by employers under RIDDOR have also increased, from 51,211 to 61,713, although this is likely to be as a result of more people returning to work after the pandemic.

While a 28% increase in work-related injuries is alarming at face value, it’s important to note that this is still lower than post-pandemic levels. Indeed, 693,000 workers sustained a non-fatal injury in 2019/20 and 581,000 workers were injured in 2018/19, the last year unimpacted by the pandemic.

Conversely, the number of new ill-health cases has almost doubled compared to pre-pandemic times, from 497,000 to 722,000. Total cases have also risen from 1.4 million to 1.8 million – an increase of 29%.

Additionally, highlighting the devastating consequences of poor health and safety practices, the report confirms that 123 workers were killed at work during this period, validating provisional data from its fatal injuries report released earlier this year.

The causes of ill health

Stress, depression and anxiety remains the leading cause of work-related ill health, accounting for 51% of all ill-health cases.

Echoing previous years, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) were the second most common cause of ill health, making up 27% of all cases. That said, in terms of actual figures, the number of MSD cases has remained broadly flat, increasing marginally from 470,000 to 477,000.

Meanwhile, though the total number of workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety has increased from 822,000 to 914,000, there has been an 17.5% drop in new cases, from 451,000 to 372,000.

Nick Wilson, Director of Health & Safety Services at DeltaNet’s sister companyWorkNest, commented: “It’s interesting to see that new cases of work-related stress, depression and anxiety have fallen over the past year. This is somewhat surprising, given the various stressors people are facing at present, though of course not all of these are work-related. Still, this doesn’t change the fact that, overall, cases have increased by 11.2% and we now know that 17.0 million working days were lost as a result – emphasising that this should remain a key area of focus for employers, not only for their staff’s sake but for the sake of business productivity too.”

Sector-wise, human health/social work and public administration/defence were found to have the highest rates of work-related ill health. Notably, while Education remains in third with 160,000 ill-health cases (59% of which related to stress, depression and anxiety), it seems some progress is being made, as its rate of ill health per 100,000 workers is no longer statistically significantly higher than the all-industry average.

Injuries

By accident type, the report reflects previous years. Slips, trips or falls on same level; handling, lifting or carrying; and being struck by a moving object remain the leading cause of non-fatal work-related injuries, followed by acts of violence and falls from height.

By sector, agriculture, forestry and fishing, construction, wholesale/retail trade; repair of motor vehicles; and accommodation/food service activities had statistically significantly higher workplace injury rates compared to the average rate across all industries.

The cost to businesses

This year’s report includes some interesting figures around the cost of work-related injury and ill health to businesses – data that was missing from the previous year’s report due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Crucially, it reveals that a staggering 36.8 million working days were lost due to work-related ill health and non-fatal workplace injury in 2021/22.

In addition, latest available data shows the significant costs incurred by employers, individuals and the government. In total, work-related injuries and new cases of ill health (excluding long latency illness such as cancer) cost an eye-watering £18.8 billion in 2019/20, £3.5 billion of which was borne by employers.

Broken down further, £11.2 billion of the total cost was incurred by new ill-health cases, with £7.6 billion due to workplace injuries.

Nick Wilson said: “The fact that 60% of this total cost comes from ill health is worth noting, as employers often devote their health and safety efforts to accident reduction, when in fact it’s ill health that stands to cost them more.

 “Of course, a big part of this cost comes from absences. The report shows that 1% of injuries and 3.3% of ill-health cases result in time off work. Again, ill health seems to be the bigger problem to tackle; while injuries are now slightly less likely to result in time off than they were in 2013 (back then, 1.4% of cases led to time off work), the number of ill-health cases that require time off has crept up in the past decade (from 1.9%).”

COVID

Turning to the COVID-19 pandemic, the report reveals that in 2021/22, 123,000 workers suffered from a new or longstanding case of COVID-19 which they believe may have been from exposure to coronavirus at work. This represents 32% increase on last year, despite – or perhaps because of – a perception that the pandemic is behind us and the virus having become less of a focus for employers.

Nick Wilson said: “Despite many organisations maintaining some sort of hybrid working model, working practices have largely returned to normal, and many people are now back at work with fewer COVID precautions in place. The HSE’s new stats are a stark reminder that COVID hasn’t gone away, and while figures suggest that the winter wave has already peaked, employers must continue to take reasonably practicable measures to reduce this risk.”

There has, however, been a drop of almost 10% in the number of workers suffering from a work-related illness either caused or made worse by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, from 645,000 to 585,000. Unsurprisingly, around a quarter of those suffering were in human health and social work activities, with higher than average rates also reported in public administration/ defence and education.

More to be done

Nick Wilson concludes: “While the number of injuries to workers is lower than pre-pandemic levels, it’s disappointing that the decrease we saw last year hasn’t been maintained. The fact that this year’s figure has shot back up also suggests that the perceived improvements noted in last year’s report may have simply been down to the pandemic and fewer people working rather than any real improvement in workplace health and safety.”

He adds: “Some might say a rise in injuries was inevitable given the wider return to work, but it’s important that employers don’t become complacent. COVID-19 put health and safety firmly on the agenda, and it must continue to be a priority now that the immediate threat of the pandemic has subsided. To drive down the numbers further, employers should focus on the suitability of their risk assessments, particularly as many won’t have revisited them since reopening.”

“More worryingly, however, is the rise we’re seeing in workplace ill health compared to pre-pandemic levels. Employers must recognise that ill health, including stress and anxiety that may be caused or aggravated by work, is considered alongside all the traditional workplace hazards we are accustomed to tackling.”

The full report is available here.

Get your free demo of our health and safety eLearning courses

Effective health and safety training for employees can go a long way in helping to establish good health and safety practices in your organisation by reminding learners of the need to take responsibility for the safety of themselves and others.

Minimise your chances of being one of these statistics with our Health and Safety eLearning collection, which is packed with engaging courses designed to ensure safety and wellbeing in the modern workplace.

To arrange your free demo, get in touch.

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IOSH gives DeltaNet’s courses the stamp of approval

Providing Health and Safety training to staff is a legal obligation of any business and is key to preventing injuries or illnesses, managing costs and encouraging a positive workplace health and safety culture.

Given the importance of health and safety, it’s vital that you select a training provider that is qualified and experienced and that courses are designed and delivered by skilled professionals.

We’ve been working with subject matter experts for over 20 years to produce our Health and Safety eLearning courses which are assured and CPD Certified.

We’re extremely proud of the fact that now over 60 of our online Health and Safety, Compliance and Performance training courses have been approved by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) – the world’s Chartered body for Health & Safety professionals and recognised worldwide as the hallmark for professional excellence in workplace health and safety.

The IOSH brand stands for excellent products, high quality standards and thought leadership in safety and health, and has been consistent in delivering high quality learning course since 1945.

The IOSH stamp of approval means that our clients can rest assured that our eLearning courses meet the highest standards for trainer competence and course quality.

The list of approved courses is continuously growing, but some of the already IOSH approved courses include:

  • Manager’s Overview of Health and Safety
  • New Mothers in the Workplace
  • Managing Stress in Your Team
  • Asbestos Management
  • Legionella and Water Safety
  • Introduction to Premises Management
  • Management of Contractors
  • Personal Safety
  • Driving at Work
  • DSE Display Screen Equipment
  • Electrical Safety
  • Fire Safety
  • Hazardous Substances
  • Hand Arm Vibration
  • Managing Your Personal Stress
  • Manual Handling
  • Your Health and Safety
  • Spotting Mental Health Red Flags
  • Recognising Anxiety & Depression
  • Online Wellbeing
  • Resilience
  • Healthy Lifestyle – Exercise
  • Healthy Lifestyle – Drink
  • Healthy Lifestyle – Food
  • Healthy Lifestyle – Sleep
  • Drug and Alcohol Awareness

…and many more!

Browse all of our IOSH approved courses here and book your free demo to see them in action.


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The cybersecurity skills shortage – is it creating a big problem for small and medium-sized businesses?

It has been widely reported that the global shortage of skilled cybersecurity personnel is threatening the security of businesses, with a recent study by The World Economic Forum revealing that 60% of businesses admitting they would find it challenging to respond to a cybersecurity incident owing to shortages of skills in their team.

Research into the UK cybersecurity labour market revealed that half (51%) of all private sector businesses identify a basic technical cyber security skills gap, accounting for around 697,000 businesses. Furthermore, industry body ISACA found that 69% of those businesses that have suffered a cyber attack in the past year were somewhat or significantly understaffed.

According to experts, the skills gap is not set to close any time soon, if anything, these shortages are expected to intensify. Last year the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) predicted there would be an annual shortfall of 10,000 new entrants into the cybersecurity market but in its latest report, released in May, that was revised to 14,000 every year. This means that, over time, we can expect business defences to become even weaker and more exposed.

Businesses must train all employees on cybersecurity awareness

While training is certainly not a replacement for skilled cybersecurity professionals, these statistics highlight the need for increasing general cybersecurity awareness training among employees; not just relying on cybersecurity professionals to safeguard the businesses’ infrastructure and protect its data.  

 

At DeltaNet, we conducted research into Google’s online search habits over the last four years and found that there has been 114% increase in the demand for cybersecurity training in the workplace which suggests that employers are realising this need and turning to alternative training methods to address this issue.

“In today’s world, cybersecurity needs to be part of everyone’s job; every employee has a role to play,” says Jason Stirland, Chief Technology Officer at DeltaNet International.

“Despite the importance of recruiting, retaining and certifying a cybersecurity team, organisations cannot really secure themselves until all employees are aware of cyber threats and know how to prevent data breaches. This means ensuring that all employees, at all levels and in all jobs, have the knowledge and awareness necessary to protect themselves and their company’s data. The breach will always be a possibility until they do.”

According to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breaches Investigations Report, 82% of data breaches involved a human element. This includes incidents in which employees expose information directly (for example, by misconfiguring databases) or by making a mistake that enables a security breach to take place (such as, downloading a malware infected attachment or using a weak password).

“Untrained staff are a huge, if not the biggest threat to a business network as they can effectively open doors to threats, bypassing even the best cyber defences. Over the past year, organisations across the globe have been dealing with employees returning to the workplace, navigating office-based, remote and hybrid workers. Unfortunately, many businesses forget the importance of training their hybrid and remote workers about cybersecurity best practices – weakening the organisation’s resilience to any security breaches. IT professionals should identify any skills gaps in the organisation and ensure all employees understand their role in safeguarding the organisation’s infrastructure and protecting its data.”

What should cyber security awareness training entail?

Cybersecurity awareness training should form part of a multiyear training strategy to educate, test employees’ existing knowledge and reinforce what they have learned. Ensuring that training is refreshed at least annually will help to embed a culture of compliance and create a vigilant workforce.

Training should ensure that employees know how to recognise and report suspected malicious cyber activity, practice good cyber hygiene and safeguard their personal devices and home networks.

As a minimum, a good cybersecurity training program should include:

·       Cybersecurity Awareness

·       Phishing Awareness

·       Data Protection Awareness

·       Setting a Secure Password

·       Keeping Information Secure

·       Social Media Awareness

·       Fraud Awareness

·       Using Email and the Internet Securely

·       Securing Mobile Devices

DeltaNet’s Cybersecurity Training is trusted by businesses all over the UK, and offers a complete, cost effective solution to your training needs. Our courses offer a comprehensive overview of the key information that you and your employees need to keep your information secure and your business safe and compliant. For more information visit and to browse our course collection, click here.

 

During Cybersecurity awareness month this October, we’re offering access to 17 of our Cybersecurity awareness eLearning courses for free! To access the free courses, sign up here by 31st October 2022 for free access to the platform for seven days.   


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The Cost of Living Crisis | Supporting Employees with Drug and Alcohol Problems

From the pandemic to the cost of living crisis, the upheaval of the last two years has taken a toll on people’s mental health, and provided a perfect breeding ground for drug and alcohol abuse.

For many, recent factors such as prolonged isolation, significant work changes and political uncertainty have contributed to feelings of stress, anxiety and depression – now made worse by fears of a bleak winter ahead as energy costs spiral.

Some may turn to drugs and/or alcohol as a coping mechanism, however, regular overuse or misuse of these substances can worsen existing issues and even create further problems, not least at work.

After all, consuming alcohol negatively impacts an individual’s ability to concentrate, problem-solve, and react to problems quickly. It can also impede their judgement, memory and decision-making skills. This will naturally concern employers, as it could increase the potential for mistakes to be made, as well as pose real health and safety risks.

Even in low-risk industries, working while under the influence may affect an employee’s attendance, performance, professionalism and relationships with colleagues, all of which have negative business consequences. Of course, there will also be concerns for the employee’s health and wellbeing.

Unfortunately for employers, the issue is intensifying. According to IOSH, the pandemic has increased the number of employees misusing drugs and alcohol; positive drug tests in the workplace have increased 54% since 2019, and 25% of employees admit that drugs and alcohol have affected their work.

On top of this, research points to a link between financial hardship and poor mental health, which may in turn prompt people to self-medicate. Given the fall in ‘real’ incomes that the UK has experienced since late 2021, and the stress and worry this is causing for many people, it’s likely that alcohol dependence may become a deeper problem.

Because of this, it’s essential that employers know how to spot the signs of substance misuse and what to do if they suspect that an employee may be struggling.

First, know what to look out for

Knowing the signs of drug and alcohol misuse will enable managers and team leaders to intervene early so that they can support employees and prevent workplace issues before they arise.

Indicators of drug and/or alcohol misuse at work include:

  • More frequent absences
  • A drop in performance
  • Behavioural changes
  • Conduct issues
  • Changes in appearance

Of course, these aren’t always indicators of substance misuse; the employee may also be struggling with family stress, illness or a work problem. It’s therefore important not to jump to conclusions – if an employee is exhibiting any of the behaviours outlined above, a sensitively handled conversation in private would be advisable to try to understand the reasons why and to work out how to manage this.

Address concerns carefully and compassionately

It’s important for managers to handle potential substance misuse or abuse at work tactfully.

Openly accusing someone of using drugs or coming to work drunk or high can be feel like an attack and lead to heated confrontations, which will only make matters worse. It could also result in the employee resigning and making a successful constructive dismissal claim.

If you suspect that drugs or alcohol are influencing an employee’s actions, it’s a good idea to document the specific behaviours causing suspicion and worry. You can then present these observations to the employee in an objective, compassionate and non-accusatory manner with the aim of identifying ways to help.

Drug and Alcohol Awareness Training can help your employees recognise early warning signs in themselves and their colleagues. It will empower managers to be able to provide effective, meaningful support to employees who may be struggling. For more information on our Drug and Alcohol Awareness Training for employees click here.


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Online training – Our top 6 business benefits

Keeping your employees’ skills up to date is a vital part of business success. Regular training can help your team develop new skills, keep up with evolving industry standards, and become more effective within their roles.

However, training can be expensive. In the UK, employers invest around £42.0bn in training each year, with an average spend of £1,530 per employee, according to 2020 government figures.

With rising bills and operational costs, many businesses may be looking for alternatives to traditional classroom or in-person learning without compromising their employees’ development and mandatory compliance responsibilities.

Is eLearning cheaper than traditional learning?

We’re often asked this question and the answer, in most cases, is yes! eLearning can save on huge segments of training and development budgets but also deliver business efficiencies and improvements. Some of our clients have told us that using online learning for mandatory H&S and compliance courses has saved them as much as 80% compared to the cost of classroom learning.  eLearning avoids some of the typical overheads that come with traditional training, such as:

  • Meeting room or venue hire – in multiple locations if you have a dispersed workforce or staff working in different geographies;
  • Travel and accommodation – for both the trainer and the trainee if they need to travel to a location to take part in a training session;
  • Instructors or facilitators’ salary and expenses – they don’t do their jobs for free!
  • Printing of materials – which will result in wasted resources and more printing costs if your company decides to update a policy or if legislation changes;
  • Time spent away from work – classroom training requires the instructor and the trainees to leave their workplaces, which can impact the business’s productivity.

What is the ROI of eLearning?

Like any other investment, a successful eLearning initiative must demonstrate value for money.

Calculating your online learning programme’s return on investment, or ROI, involves comparing the costs of designing and rolling out your training courses with the benefits of your online training. You can determine if your programme has been successful when you can demonstrate that the value and benefits outweigh the costs.

According to a study by IOMA, corporations can save between 50% and 70% when they replace instructor-based training with eLearning (IOMA 2002). For example, IBM found that up to 40% of its classroom training costs were spent on travel and accommodation, and when the company moved half of its training programs to an eLearning format, it saved $579million (approx. £479million) over just the first two years. And Microsoft‘s move to video-based training helped the organisation reduce costs by $303 per learner (approx. £250), from $320 to just $17 (approx. £14).

6 benefits of using online learning as opposed to traditional learning

The benefits of using eLearning to deliver staff training extend beyond the obvious financial savings. They are realised in several other efficiencies too.

For instance:

  1. Higher productivity – eLearning helps keep downtime to a minimum, allowing staff to log on when they can and complete their training quickly. Courses are interactive, making them highly engaging, and can be delivered in shorter sessions and spread out over a certain period so that businesses don’t lose employees for entire days at a time.
  2. No time wasting – Rather than being on a group course with people at different levels and learning speeds, online training puts people in charge of their own development and enables employees to complete training at their own pace. In addition, courses can be more specifically tailored to an employee’s job role and existing knowledge and understanding of a subject through adaptive learning. This short video explains more about adaptive learning and how it can deliver next-level ROI on your training investment.
  3. More inclusive – With eLearning, course content can be translated into many different languages. Providing training in an employee’s first language not only helps to improve learning outcomes and understanding, but it can also help employees feel more included and motivated and can help build a happier and more culturally inclusive work environment. At DeltaNet, our courses can be translated into over 100 different languages, so regardless of location or language preference, you can provide your employees with the right training.
  4. Flexible solution – eLearning is a fast and flexible solution to your compliance training needs which can be rolled out quickly to anyone in any location. Online delivery avoids many of the expenses and logistical planning associated with traditional learning, as well as the costs related to missed training sessions if a staff member is off sick. eLearning can simply be picked up when the employee is back at work.
  5. Promote long-term learning and behavioural change – German psychologist, Hermann Ebbinghaus, carried out numerous memory studies and found that people forget what they’ve learned shortly after learning it. He suggested that we forget about 50% of our learnings after the first hour and around 90% after a month. This is because people will forget what they don’t use – ‘Use it or lose it’. So for training programmes to be successful, training can’t be looked at as a one-off, box-ticking exercise. Instead, information needs to be refreshed and reinforced regularly to achieve long-term learning and create behavioural change across the organisation; this can easily be done with online refresher training courses.
  6. Identify and close skills gaps – Learning management systems allow you to automatically collect and interpret data about your learners so you can track progress, ensure employees are meeting their compliance objectives and determine how individual parts of your businesses are performing. Combining and comparing these figures will help you to draw an accurate picture of the overall health of your organisation, promote future learning opportunities and address gaps in knowledge that hold your organisation back or put it at risk.

With the right training provider, eLearning can significantly benefit your employees and your business. So it’s no surprise that more and more companies are modernising their digital learning strategy by having eLearning in the workplace.

Book a free tailored demo today, and we’ll show you how we can help you solve your biggest training challenges with people-centred eLearning.


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Revealed: the common root causes behind ‘wholly avoidable’ workplace accidents

According to new research by our sister company, WorkNest – , 200 organisations have faced over £47million in fines since 2005 for workplace accidents judged to be ‘wholly unavoidable’.

The study looked at 200 health and safety prosecutions brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) dating back to 2005, spanning ten different sectors, to establish common root causes. WorkNest specifically examined the prosecutions with commentary containing phrases such as “wholly unavoidable”, “could have been prevented”, and “entirely preventable”.

In 97 of the 200 cases that were reviewed (48.5%), inspectors stated that the employer had failed to put in place adequate risk control plans and strategies to manage health and safety risks – a fundamental error which resulted in serious injuries and even fatalities.

The fact is, the vast majority of workplace accidents are preventable. These statistics are especially alarming, as in 2022, there is simply no excuse for organisations not to be managing their health and safety risks, and for business owners not to know what is required of them under health and safety law. Still, annual fatal injury statistics continue to remind us that serious incidents can and do occur in all manner of workplaces, and in order to drive down the numbers, business leaders need to know why.

So what health and safety mistakes are employers still making?

Whilst some accidents have multiple contributing factors, the three most common primary root causes of serious safety incidents in the workplace, according to WorkNest’s research was: Lack of planning (48.5%), Failure to risk assess (32.5%) and Lack of machine guarding/ maintenance (8%).

Other underlying failings cited by the HSE included a lack of training (3.5% of cases), poor supervision (1.5% of cases) and poor management systems (1% of cases).

A lack of training is a key mistake

The HSE’s Accident Prevention Advisory Unit has shown that human error is a major contributory cause of 90% of accidents, 70% of which could have been prevented by management action. Enrolling employees in courses such as Health and Safety Essentials and Introduction to Working Safely – as well as immersive training challenges – will help to prevent accidents by ensuring everyone in your organisation is aware of their responsibilities.

Note that training was also identified as a secondary reason behind many of the incidents that formed part of the research, so it’s importance should not be overlooked.

What does this analysis tell us?

Examining the root causes of these cases highlights that even in 2022 – nearly 50 years on from the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act – many organisations are failing to implement even the Plan and Do phases of Plan, Do, Check, Act. These are the basics of good health and safety management, and the fact that some employers are still not taking these steps – and are running the gauntlet for whatever reason – is very concerning.

Aside from the devastating human impact, these oversights are costing employers significantly. In fact, taking into account the fines and legal costs involved, these 200 prosecutions cost employers over £47 million, plus almost £4 million in legal costs.

Often, the rationale for poor practices is “I wasn’t aware”, “I don’t have the time”, “that’s not my job”, “we don’t have the funding” or simply “it will be alright”. When you run a business, time and money is precious, but a lot more time and money will be consumed by a serious incident or fatality – and many organisations have learned the hard way, so invest in good health and safety training practices now.

Not sure your safety training processes are up to scratch?

DeltaNet can help your organisation take a proactive approach to health and safety compliance through a comprehensive suite of Health and Safety e-Learning courses. Our RoSPA Assured, IOSH Approved and CPD Certified Health and Safety solutions that fit flexibly around the needs of your business. Whether you’re looking to deliver a ready-made online learning programme, or create something entirely bespoke, we’ll work with you to enhance your business performance with our health and safety training solutions.


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