The British Safety Council is offering free online training courses for home workers as the nation changes its working habits to meet the threat of Coronavirus
As millions of workers in Britain set themselves up to work from home, they will be adjusting to a whole new way of working and preparing to miss the social contact of their workplace. To support them the British Safety Council is offering courses for free until the middle of April.
Employers are required to protect the health, safety and welfare of all employees, including those who are working away from the office.
Speaking from his home office this morning the chief executive of the British Safety Council Mike Robinson said, “Across Britain people are making big changes to their work routine and millions of people are working from home for the first time. This will mean quite an adjustment for lots of people. Working away from the office has implications for workers and managers.
“Even in normal times it’s important for peoples’ wellbeing to make sure they are connected to their colleagues and their work if they are not coming into the workplace – at a time of serious anxiety in the life of our country keeping an eye on your wellbeing and your colleagues’ wellbeing will be really important.
“It is our founding mission at the British Safety Council to ensure that nobody is injured or made ill through their work – and that includes people working from home in a national crisis. I hope by offering out our expertise for free with some accessible online courses people will see some real value.”
The British Safety Council is turning its attention to new courses and resources for workers that can be accessed online. This will include guidance on risk management, disaster recovery and lone working. The British Safety Council website includes information for employers and employees on coronavirus and links to the free courses.
“At times like these, every organisation needs to put aside commercial imperatives and focus on pulling together to do the right thing. We’ve made plans to protect our staff and customers and those are in place as I speak. Now we are focusing our energies on how we can support our members and any other employers by sharing our expertise at no cost,” he added.
The courses are:
Remote Workers’ Health Safety and Welfare helps workers to identify risks and hazards of their remote working location and to do their job safely. It includes details about legal duties that relate to remote working and guidance to reduce risks to physical and mental wellbeing. There is also advice about planning for and managing emergencies.
Mental Health: Start the conversation
This course offers a comprehensive introduction to mental health and the link between pressure facing people at work and outside work that effect mental health. It includes how to look after one’s own mental health as well as knowing the signs that someone else needs help and understanding why people are reluctant to talk about their mental health.
Managing stress within your team
Essential for every responsible manager, this course highlights some of the pressures their teams might face, helps managers become more aware of their own actions and behaviours, and most importantly it helps manage and reduce stress levels within their team.
