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As an employer, when it comes to Health and Safety record keeping is very important. In a workplace accident or injury case their will be onus on you to prove your due diligence in that you took every reasonable precaution for protection of your workers. In these cases, meticulous record keeping can save you from thousands of dollars in fines, and even jail time.
In general you should keep employee training records that include employee sign offs on company orientation, the legal obligations of both parties, their knowledge of how to perform their job, hazardous materials, the safe use of equipment, personal protective equipment, and emergency procedures.
Most companies used to rely on paper copies kept in an employee’s personnel file for the duration of their employment. These days there are several computer programs and templates that can help you great online records that are organized, easy to find, and keep track of when employees were trained so you can ensure they are retrained as needed. Even a simple Excel spreadsheet will do the job (but be sure to have paper copies with employee signatures). All training records should generally be kept for the duration of the workers employment plus one year. Image may be NSFW.
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In addition to training records, you should also have organized files for all workplace inspections and accident reports. Keep everything organized and dated so that if you were subject to a surprise inspection by the Ministry of Labour you have everything you need at your fingertips.
Be careful. while meticulous record keeping can help benefit your company, it also become your downfall. Training sign offs lose value over time. So, if Bob injures himself while using a machine without a proper guard, and you present a five year old document he signed acknowledging he knows how to safely use the machine, it can do more harm than good for you. The general shelf life of health and safety documents is five years. They carry the most weight in their first year and then depreciate in value as time passes.
Also, be sure to close the loop on any inspection records as well. You could be shooting yourself in the foot if an employee trips in a pothole and you have months of records noting a hazardous pothole. Take corrective action based on reports and recommendations of the JHSC and then document that you have taken corrective action.
Finally, remember that while record keeping is essential, it is the actual training and knowledge that is also important. Even though an employee has signed off, if an inspector asks them about the IRS and they talk about the Internal Revenue Service (instead of the Internal Responsibility System) you will have a problem.
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SOME BEST PRACTICES FOR DOCUMENTATION
-Use systems identical to those you already use for documenting your company’s production and quality.
-Build multipurpose job instructions that can be reused.
-Utilize checklists and forms
-Make sure all your hazard identification documents are up to date
-Create training plans for staff when they are hired to ensure they receive ongoing training.
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