1. General statement
We are committed to ensuring that all our staff has received adequate training in order to be able to carry out their duties safely and without risk to themselves or others. We aim to achieve this by providing induction training for all new employees and on-going skills training. The need for training will be determined by the requirements of the individual employee’s job role. We also constantly assess and review the development needs of our employees and actively encourage all staff, regardless of employment status, language skills and grade, to take advantage of all training opportunities available and to communicate their individual needs and requirements.
2. Legal position
Providing adequate training to our staff is a requirement of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It is also required by other more specific legislation which relates to the use of machinery, handling activities, hazardous substances and the wearing of personal protective equipment. The test of adequacy is based on providing sufficient training to ensure that employees can carry out their duties without jeopardising either their health and safety, or that of their colleagues and visitors.
3. Procedures
The following procedures describe the steps that we will take to comply with our obligations to provide adequate training:• All new employees will receive induction training. This training includes Health and Safety, Quality and Environmental management and covers key areas such as fire safety, first aid and any workplace hazards. A signature will be required from the employee to confirm that they have understood the contents. A copy of this form will be kept on their personnel file.
• This training will also be provided to other groups who will be working on our premises. This includes agency temps, work experience students and sub-contractors
• Some training is a statutory requirement, e.g. for manual handling activities. However, where this is not the case, a risk assessment and/or a Training Needs Analysis will be used to determine whether any training is necessary in order to carry out the job role safely. Other training needs will be identified by using one, or a mixture of, the following tools and is dependent upon the specific needs of the individual, team or client:
• Performance Appraisals
• Employee Development Needs questionnaires
• Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
• Specific task Training Needs Analysis (TNA)
• Where an employee’s job involves the operation of tools or machinery, on-the-job training will be provided by the Site or Area Supervisor. It is the responsibility of the employee’s manager to ensure that this is carried out. This training will also be given if an employee changes jobs
• If new machinery or equipment is purchased, further training is likely to become necessary. If so, this will be arranged before on the new machinery etc. commences.
If certain training is needed and it cannot be provided in-house, then the individual employee and their manager will need to identify a suitable course.
4. Effectiveness
The effectiveness of our training policy is measured by using Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which relates specifically to: -
• Technical ability.
• Management of work and tasks.
• Skill level of staff performing site work.
• Quality of work.
• Customer feedback. The results of these KPI’s are analysed to ensure that our training policy and procedures are effective and fair and constantly
5. Employee duties
Employees are expected to cooperate with us fully with regard to attending health and safety training courses. We expect that all reasonable effort will be made to attend a course, but if this isn’t possible, that we will be notified well in advance. Should an employee fail to attend a course which is a legal requirement without good reason, we retain the right to treat it as a disciplinary matter.This policy is reviewed annually.