What is Environmental Health and Safety Training
3 min readEnvironmental health and safety training is essential information for construction workers, safety managers, people who work in situations where safety hazards are of utmost concern such as hazmat removal workers, as well as general employees. Proper training is done under current safety regulations as covered by OSHA, and other agencies, as well as done only by certified professionals. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 or OSHA falls under the United States Department of Labor. It was created to ensure a consistent set of regulations for safe working conditions. EHS training also follows the guidelines of regulatory agencies such as The Environmental Protection Agency or EPA under the United States’ federal government and The Department of Transportation or DOT, also under the US federal government.
What is Environmental Health and Safety Training?
One of the best ways to understand EHS training is to break it down. E, which is short for Environment, focuses on preventing things like hazardous spills from harming the environment. It is training to help business owners, managers and employees learn how to keep their working areas safe and healthy. H, which is short for Health, focuses on things like radiation, etc., that can make a person sick. S, which is short for Safety, focuses on workplace matters that can cause injury, such as falling off ladders or getting run over by a machine.
Therefore, there are many goals to EHS training. Not only is it designed to keep the working place safe, but it is designed to keep employees as well as the environment safe. It is also intended to ensure that employees of a business aren’t violating rules for keeping the environment safe such as focusing on how to properly dispose of hazardous waste, how to prevent spills, how to prevent water pollution, etc.
EHS training works to identify, review and control hazards as well as train owners, managers, and employees on the dangers. It helps owners, managers, and employees how to keep themselves safe as well as the environment. Without this kind of training, the risk of mishaps as well as major catastrophes, such as oil refinery explosions resulting in deaths, are increased.
What are Other Benefits of EHS Training?
In addition to the standard goals of EHS training, the training also contributes to other benefits. Environmental health and safety training creates fewer adverse health and safety incidents. In addition, when employees are shown EHS training, they can see that the company they work for cares about their health as well as protecting the environment. EHS training saves a company money overall because it helps with insurance premiums and worker’s compensation claims. This kind of commitment also transfers to customers. When customers know that a company is committed to environmental health and safety, many of them will be more likely to continue to give such a company their money and support.
EHS training is vital for companies across the board. The training provides a plan-of-action for dealing with environmental health and safety concerns.
