Jodie Read
Jan 8, 20202 min
Training is not optional, or a nice to have. It's actually a specific requirement of some legislation. For example, the Health and Safety etc. Act 1974 lists "the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees" in the section on general duties of employers to their employees.
Whilst our experience shows that most organisations implement Standards when there is a commercial reason to do so, they won't achieve certification without being able to demonstrate evidence of training. For instance, clause 7.2.b of the environmental management standard ISO 14001 says that an organisation must "ensure that these persons are competent on the basis of appropriate education, training or experience".
As training is required, it stands to reason that an organisation should be able to provide evidence that training has been delivered. In addition to having copies of certificates for formal qualifications, it is good practice for there to be a training record for each employee, which should include details of any inhouse or less formal training. For instance, medical device manufacturers may require operatives to undergo inhouse traning on cleanroom processes before allowing them to work on lines with sterile product.
By keeping records of training, it becomes easier for managers to review the skills of individual team members and to recommend future training needs as part of an appraisal process.
Ideally, with good processes in place, things will go according to plan. But sometimes, things go wrong. As part of an investigation process, questions that the organisation should be asking themselves inlcude:
a. Was this reasonably forseeable?
b. Do we provide training for this eventuality?
c. Were team members properly trained?
Properly maintained training records will help to answer these questions.
If you'd like to find out more about how to manage your training records call us on 029 2070 3328 or email us via info@penarth.co.uk