Occupational Health
Occupational Health is the promotion and maintenance of physical and mental wellbeing of all staff. Health problems directly related to a person’s job are defined as an occupational illness.
Some hazards, such as skin contact with chemicals causing short-term irritation and/or rashes are known as acute illnesses. For more information try our fully online Chemical Safety course. Chronic illnesses develop gradually and their effects may be irreversible, e.g. loss of hearing. Some may even appear years after the time of employment, e.g. asbestosis. For more information try our fully online Asbestos Awareness course.
Specific Health Hazards
- Physical damage from noise, heat and radiation, e.g. hand arm vibration syndrome by machine operators using vibrating machinery such as strimmers, soil compactors and drills. For more information try our fully online Workplace Safety course.
- Chemical problems from harmful dust, liquids and/or fumes, e.g. dermatitis causing severe irritation and cracking of the skin in occupations such as cleaners or hairdressers. For more information try our fully online Chemical Safety course.
- Ergonomic problems from poorly designed work areas, e.g. work-related upper limb disorders, back pain or repetitive strain suffered by keyboard operators and tool operators. For more information try our fully online VDU/DSE course and Manual Handling Awareness course.
- Biological hazards from infectious diseases and agents, e.g. hepatitis caused by needle stick injuries to hospital staff. For more information try our fully online Infection Prevention and Control course.
General Health Hazards
As well as specific health hazards there are some general things that may affect all workplaces:
Smoking
Smoking and passive smoking have been linked to lung cancer, irritation to the respiratory system and other harmful effects. The Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Act 2004 (No. 6 of 2004) placed a ban on smoking at all enclosed places of work from 29/03/04 to protect persons at work from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. This includes office blocks, aircraft, trains, company vehicles, health premises, schools, colleges, cinemas, theatres, licensed premises and clubs, if any of these places is your place of work. The smoking ban also applies to common areas within buildings. This means, for example, that corridors, lobby areas and reception areas of buildings such as apartment blocks and hotels are also covered. For more information, please consult Citizens Information service. In addition, try our fully online Workplace Safety course.
Alcohol
Alcohol increases the time it takes to react to situations, affects behaviour and reduces performance. For more information try our fully online Behavioral Safety course.
Drugs
Substance abuse may cause health problems and can cause safety hazards in the workplace. Many drugs are particularly dangerous because they cause mood changes and alter people’s perceptions. Even prescribed drugs may have a detrimental effect. As with alcohol, the condition must be addressed. For more information try our fully online Behavioral Safety course.
Violence
Verbal abuse, threats, bullying or assault can cause stress and concern as well as physical injury. Staff should be encouraged to report all occurrences to their supervisors who should record and objectively investigate the details and if necessary report to the relevant authority. For more information try our fully online Bullying Awareness course.
Stress
A large percentage of sick leave is due to stress, either due to personal reasons or the physical or emotional pressure of the job. Stomach and skin conditions, heart disease and depression have been linked to stress. Factors influencing stress in the workplace include poor working conditions, overwork, job insecurity, peer pressure including harassment, unrealistic targets and poor management.
Employees should be encouraged to report stress and management should be trained to recognise the symptoms and causes of stress such as inability or reduced ability to cope with normal tasks and situations, increased sick leave and/or poor time-keeping. For more information try our fully online Workplace Stress Awareness course.
It is very important to have an effective occupational health management system in place. There are sound economic reasons for reducing work-related accidents and ill-health, as well as ethical and regulatory reasons. Businesses that manage safety and health successfully invariably have a positive safety culture. Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.
For online Health and Safety training solutions, please check our Online Health and Safety Training portal.
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Online Health and Safety Training and its Benefits
Online Health and Safety training offers a strong return on investment for employers and a quick way to get employees up to date with workplace safety. Online courses are also tailored to specific areas of workplace safety. They can ensure employees are getting the exact information they need to do their job safely. In this article, we take a closer look at the benefits of online training for workplace safety.
The Importance of Online Training for Workplace Safety
Studies show online education is growing by 5-10% each year as more and more employers move their training methods online. According to the Irish Central Statistics Office (CSO) there was a sharp increase in the use of education portals/websites during COVID-19 with over one fifth (21%) Communicating with instructors or students using educational websites/portals, an increase of seven percentage points in 2019. These numbers remain high even after the COVID-19 pandemic. With the rise of digital technology in all areas of our lives this trend is far from declining.
Online Health and Safety training is a convenient way for staff to learn about their safety in the workplace. It removes many constraints which often hinder classroom training. This type of training is also very specific. It usually focuses on the precise lessons needed to stay safe in the workplace. From food handling and fire safety to workplace stress and working at heights, such online courses are always relevant to the workplace and ensure employers are abiding by certain laws and regulations.
Let’s take a look at some of the main benefits of online training.
7 Key Benefits of Online Training for Workplace Safety
1. Online Training Draws from High Quality Resources
Online training usually draws inspiration from the best interactive experiences online and incorporate these learnings into an online course. As a result, online training can sometimes include video conferencing or webinars and other opportunities which enable staff to engage remotely. Simply put, this consistent high quality and extent of resources is rarely guaranteed in the classroom.
2. Learning Practical Skills for Real World Experience
Employees develop soft skills through online training and practical lessons which they can put into practice at work. These lessons often come from real experience which can feel more relevant than the theory which you might hear about in a classroom. Online courses also use simulations, scenarios and multiple choice questions to ensure these lessons are always relevant to real world scenarios. This also highlights the objective of online training – to give employee the exact education they need to know to do their job safely.
3. Employees Often Retain More through Online Training
Research shows how many employees are likely to forget what they learn in the classroom. It makes sense when you think back to school days and just how little algebra or poetry you might remember! Memory retention is boosted by relevant experiences which can be applied straight away. With this in mind, online training is often split into areas of knowledge and structured to increase relevancy. This increased relevancy means employees will more likely learn and recall the contents of an online course than they might in a classroom.
4. Online Courses Can Be Scheduled for Any Time/Place
Standard classroom training is always set at a specific time but co-ordinating this time is near impossible in such a fast-moving world. There is also a time loss for going to and from a classroom. Many employees are likely to feel restricted in a classroom environment. Online training can take place at any time and enables employees to undergo the training at their own pace. It’s a win-win situation for both employers and employees. In addition, it also removes the requirement for having a classroom to facilitate the training.
5. Immediate Access to Support and Resources
Online training provides immediate access to a large number of resources which allows them to find answers at the time of learning. Classroom training takes place in a specific location where employees are most often unable to access training resources in real time. This means employees don’t need to wait until the next class to ask questions and can address any immediate challenges or concerns before moving on with the training. Online training can use forums or social media groups to provide extra support and provide employees with a place whether they can share tips or ask questions.
6. Online Training is Designed for Different Learning Preferences
Every audience consists of different people with varying abilities and backgrounds. However, more recent generations have become accustomed to smart technology and the online world. These employees are also likely to have acquired skills through Google, YouTube and apps in the past and appreciate this method of learning. This is why the rate of attention and engagement with online training is often said to be higher than a classroom. Online training is designed to cater to all learning preferences.
7. High Levels of Engagement and Responsibility
Some online training courses are gamified which means they feature levels, rewards and certain mechanics which encourage progress. These courses seek to encourage the learner to progress and keep going until they complete each lesson. They can also monitor performance along the way and feel more invested or responsible for participating in the course. It is this high engagement which should be attractive to employers and the fact they can outsource this time consuming process to a trusted online training platform.
Working with a training company
Working with an online training platform can help employers lighten the load and allow the experts to take care of the training. However, it’s important to choose a platform which abides by laws and regulations and incorporates these requirements into the online training. For instance, MyElearnSafety offer courses online health and safety training for Food Safety which adhere to the principles of the internationally recognised Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). It also offers Fire Safety Awareness, Manual Handling Awareness, Paediatric First Aid just to name a few.
Check out MyElearnSafety today and we can get everyone up to speed on their workplace safety!
Are there Food Safety Requirements for a Childcare Provider?
The Environmental Health Association of Ireland (EHAI) recommends that where a childcare service provides food to children, relevant staff are required to have food safety training.
The childcare provider needs to have a HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point) Food Safety System in place.
Your food safety management system allows you to identify and control any hazards that could pose a danger to the preparation of safe food. It helps you to:
- identify what can go wrong
- plan to prevent it
- make sure you are doing it.
According to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), If you are responsible for developing and maintaining your business’s HACCP based procedures then you must undertake adequate training in the application of HACCP principles.
HACCP training is a requirement
What Level of Food Safety Training Do Our Staff Need?
The Food Safety (HACCP) Level 1 course is ideal for those with no previous experience, with light food handling duties and/or performing low-risk duties (such as waiters, baristas, caregivers, kitchen porters, deli shop assistants, etc.).
This is the recommended level for all food handlers, or those working in a kitchen setting, who do not have management responsibility for HACCP.
Food Safety HACCP Level 3 defines food safety skills for management and is aimed specifically towards Catering Managers, Supervisors, Executive and Head Chefs within the Hospitality Industry, Industrial and Institutional Catering Units, along with the Health Sector, Retail Sector and Delis.There should be at least one food worker with Food Safety HACCP Level 3 on duty in a food premises.
Managers, Owners, need to be able to manage HACCP systems. They should also have a good understanding of how to implement a HACCP Programme for their workplace. All food businesses are required by law to have a food safety management system in place based on the principles of HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point).
What Can Myelearnsafety Do for You?
Contact Myelearnsafety, HACCP Food Safety Training Consultants can be contacted for free HACCP Food Safety Advice and Guidance.
Telephone the office @ 01 278 1938 – As for Shane or Cormac
Benefits of eLearning to COVID-19 Transmission Rates
eLearning Trends
eLearning was already on the rise pre-COVID-19. For some time there has been a phenomenal growth of eLearning use among the corporate sector. 90% of corporations now use e-learning compared to just 4% in 1995. And the reason for this is obvious; with employees delivering increased productivity for every euro/dollar invested in e-learning.
Though it was trending that way anyway, the onset of COVID-19 has meant that the growth of eLearning has spread well beyond the corporate sector, to now encompass the education, healthcare, computer & info tech, retail and eCommerce and construction sectors, among others.
People working remotely, businesses moving online and people choosing to learn online rather than in the classroom – the necessary restrictions caused by Covid-19, have seen technology take centre stage in so many aspects of business and life.
There has been a two-fold benefit when it comes to reducing the rate of transfer of COVID-19.
Benefits of eLearning to reducing spread of COVID-19
Reducing the Transmission Rate
As well as the positive environmental impact of an increased uptake in eLearning, there has been a two-fold benefit when it comes to reducing the rate of transfer of COVID-19. The first, and most obvious of these benefits, is the reduction in face-to-face contact. The second benefit is the opportunity to increase employee awareness, training and general education regarding COVID-19, with COVID-19 specific courses such as COVID-19 Infection Prevention & Control, COVID-19 Compliance Officer, and COVID-19 Lead Worker Representative courses.
Looking at COVID-19 Infection Prevention & Control courses as an example, this type course provides a better understanding of the basic principles of infection control and the ability to apply standard precautions while understanding the chain of infection and an employees’ own role in the prevention of the spread of infection. All going towards reducing the transmission rate of COVID-19.
“Students acquire knowledge and skills through online and offline eLearning as well as or better than they do through traditional teaching”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) itself has taken a proactive approach to providing eLearning courses aimed at controlling and preventing the spread of infection of viruses such as the novel coronavirus. This is not surprising, as the findings from a review commissioned by the WHO showed that students acquire knowledge and skills through online and offline eLearning as well as or better than they do through traditional teaching.
If you are interested in taking precautions to minimise the spread of COVID-19 either now, or upon return to work, speak to Cormac at: +353 1 2781938 or cormac@elearn.ie