There are several health and safety laws and regulations businesses must follow to ensure the safety and wellbeing of employees in the workplace.
Mandatory training applicable to all businesses includes:
Health and Safety training: The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires employers to ensure employees are adequately trained in health and safety.
Health and safety induction training is particularly important for new employees to ensure they understand essential information around workplace hazards, emergency procedures and their rights and responsibilities regarding health and safety legislation.
Fire Safety training: Under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, employers must provide fire safety training to all employees and appoint fire wardens or marshals where necessary.
Adequate training must ensure employees understand fire prevention measures, evacuation procedures and the use of fire extinguishers.
Manual Handling training: Under The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, employers are required to provide manual handling training to employees who may engage in manual handling as part of their role.
This type of training helps employees understand how to correctly handle, lift and carry objects in the workplace without injury.
First Aid training: The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 set out that employers must provide adequate first aid training and facilities at work.
This type of training helps employees understand how to respond in the event of an injury or medical emergency and helps protect the overall health and wellbeing of themselves and their colleagues at work.
There are other regulations which are applicable to employers depending on their working environments such as The Work at Height Regulations 2005, The Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 and The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) which require businesses to provide adequate training relating to working at height, within confined spaces or around hazardous substances.