Safety Training for the Heavy Equipment Industry

897 Words2 Pages

Safety is essential in the heavy equipment industry. As a company safety impacts the company’s profitability and the well-being of employees. Therefore a training program centered on safety is not only vital, it is practical. The training will begin at orientation and continue throughout an employee’s tenure with the company. In heavy construction, failure to operate safely can cost lives, therefore the company is by nature forced to ensure that employees are aware of and follow safe operating practices.
Vital Training
The training is essential for several reasons. The company needs to ensure the safety of their employees is highly regarded. The best method to ensure this is by properly training employees how to operate safely and how to properly maintain machines to avoid accidents due to unsafe equipment. One source noted that at least five percent of payroll expenses should be devoted to training employees (Ingalls, 2013). Doing so can reduce insurance claims as well as mitigates poorly performed jobs (Ingalls, 2013). Insurance costs are high in this industry; therefore anything that a company can do to try to alleviate unnecessary claims aids in keeping costs under control. According to OSHA (2014) preventing work related injuries involves good practices, awareness on the part of employees, and a sound work environment that may include ergonomically fit machines or supports for climbing in and out of machines.
The construction industry is a dangerous industry, one that is very hard on the body. It cannot only be damaging to a body climbing in and out of a machine all day long, but it can be dangerous as well. One miss step can result in an injury. This underscores the need to properly train employees on all aspect...

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