Free on-line health and safety courses

The free courses will help to raise awareness of key hazards and risks in transport and aim to reduce the estimated 105,179 lost work days owing to vehicle-related non-fatal injuries during the five year period from 2009 to 2013.

The four courses are: Safe Workplace; Safe Vehicles; Safe Drivers and Employees; and High Risk Vehicle Activities. Each on-line course takes 45 minutes to complete and learners can download a certificate of completion on passing the short assessment.

HSA’s head of Work Related Vehicle Safety, Deirdre Sinnott, said: "These short courses will help employers and managers understand the specific risks involved in vehicle safety at work and how to manage them. The courses are aimed at business owners and managers to improve knowledge and understanding of vehicle risks at work and enable them to prevent avoidable accidents. The courses are designed for those who supervise or manage vehicle related activities in the workplace such as delivery and collection, warehousing and storage, loading and unloading and fleet and workplace traffic management."

Sinnott added: "The content is suitable for all work settings including transport and logistics hubs, retail, warehousing and distribution centres, manufacturing sites, healthcare facilities and vehicle testing and repair facilities.”

Key learning outcomes include being able to: 

•  Improve knowledge of the principles of workplace transport safety 

•  Outline how to achieve and maintain a safe workplace environment to prevent vehicle related incidents

•  Understand the key steps to keeping people safe in workplaces where vehicle and pedestrian movement takes place

•  Cut Workplace Transport Risk Management into practice

educe the chance of personal injury or asset damage when carrying out high risk activities

HSA education manager, Joanne Harmon said, "These short on-line courses will be of interest to those delivering driver or worker-related training on vehicles at work to learners. The group manager facility allows employers, managers or tutors to register groups of learners to take a course and remotely monitor their progress.

Harmon added: "Learners can take courses during their own time and at their own pace, and can download a certificate of completion on passing the short assessment.  Although not a formal qualification, certification can form part of an individual’s training or continuous professional development record.”