With COVID-19 bringing a ‘new normal’ into the everyday lives of millions, businesses are having to adapt to survive whilst also protecting their workforce like never before. The way that health and safety is delivered could change forever, says Kevin McGrath, Founder and Director of SafetySmart.
With the Government confirming its detailed guidance on its plans to ease current Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in the UK, adaptability and flexibility have become the keywords for CEOs and business owners, to ensure they can run their business safely and effectively.
Allowing staff to work from home, adapting their business offering to meet customer demand, and using new tools to ensure communication continues seamlessly, brings further health and safety culpability to employers.
Employers have a responsibility to their workforce whether they are furloughed, working from home or working at onsite premises which brings a number of challenges in the current situation. This includes the wellbeing of each member of staff, and with everyone adapting to these circumstances and struggling with different factors including finances, family and isolation to name but a few, this puts incredible pressure on the employer.
An employer needs to consider how to support each member of staff, including ongoing staff training, how they can stay connected with their workforce and keep them updated, providing the right equipment to work from home where possible and relevant PPE to ensure the staff feel both cared for and safe.
SafetySmart has had to adapt its own health and safety training business for the current environment. SafetySmart was only launched in 2019 and is a new and unique interactive training platform which has injected a dose of fun into health and safety training.
SafetySmart is an impactful learning platform that requires participants, split into teams, to play a giant board game, where they will come across different situations and scenarios as they play. Kevin normally visits work premises to deliver the training but is now in the process of adapting the training so it can be done online to help business keep health and safety front of mind and to help create a safer workplace.
The SafetySmart game directly involves people and playing the game has numerous benefits, from creating healthy and constructive discussion and debates, to having a lasting impact on the individuals.
Splitting the group into teams always develops some healthy competition as well as team building skills. With its ability to update, SafetySmart meets legal requirements and companies can choose to have the option of a trainer, or alternatively the SafetySmart team will teach staff to deliver the training.
Each session can be for individuals or for groups of up to 30 people. Preparing for sessions of this nature can often be time consuming and tough, however Kevin and his team have developed the training so a lesson can be prepared in minutes, through quick shortcuts that take people through to specific and relevant information.
I want to help business during these unprecedented times and moving forward, as I have been exposed to many serious incidents both mentally and physically that could have easily been prevented and with the current pandemic, never has it been more important to be proficient in health and safety.
