Safety Training is the provision of Information, Training, Instruction, and Supervision to workers to develop their capacities, knowledge, and awareness of health and safety related tasks. As described by the Model Work Health and Safety Act, the primary duty of care of a person conducting a business or undertaking is to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers engaged, or caused to be engaged by the person; and workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the person, while the workers are at work in the business or undertaking. Safety Training provides workers with the necessary orientation to and engagement with safety knowledge and practice, improving their risk awareness and giving them the means to comply with orders safely, attend to their own health and wellbeing, ensure compliance with legislative and industry best guidance, and protect the health of other workers, visitors, and stakeholders.
Safety Training is the provision of Information, Training, Instruction, and Supervision in matters of health and safety. Therefore, Safety Training should be provided using educational content developed from contemporary information, using appropriately trained and competent trainers, in a methodological process of instruction, and the effect of this should be reviewed. In practice, this means that training must be grounded in current legislative requirements, informed by contemporary occupational hygiene and safety science, and delivered in a manner that is systematic and methodologically sound from the perspective of the needs of the business as well as the needs of the workforce. Training should be structured to progressively build knowledge, reinforce key concepts, and provide opportunities for workers to apply learning in realistic scenarios. Evaluation of training effectiveness through observation, assessment, consultation, and performance monitoring is consequently essential, and formal audits of effectiveness need to feed this information back into the development process to proactively address areas of improvement. This evaluative loop forms part of a continuous improvement cycle, ensuring that training remains relevant, evidence‑based, and responsive to emerging risks, and technological change.
Safety Training is an intervention designed to skill up workers in capacities relating to health and safety. Where workers are new to the workforce, older, or who have moved through different businesses, the quality of safety knowledge may be incomplete or contextually misapplied. Workplaces need to ensure that safety knowledge on the workers' part is harmonised as required and appropriate for the industry in which they are working. This harmonisation process requires the business to identify baseline competencies, assess existing worker knowledge, and bridge gaps through targeted instruction. Workers bring with them a diversity of experience, habits, and assumptions, some of which may be outdated, unsafe, or incompatible with the organisation’s systems of work. Effective Safety Training therefore functions as both an equaliser and an enabler by aligning workers to a common standard of safe practice while supporting individual capability development. This is particularly important in industries characterised by high worker mobility, ageing workforces, or rapid technological change, where inconsistent knowledge can create systemic operational and procedural vulnerabilities. By ensuring that all workers share a coherent understanding of hazards, controls, and expectations, businesses strengthen their safety culture and reduce the likelihood of error, miscommunication, or unsafe improvisation.
Safety Training should be undertaken as part of onboarding of new workers, as part of regular refresher training, as part of site induction for contractors and visitors, and should reconcile business processes with occupational health and safety management systems. Onboarding provides the foundational orientation to hazards, controls, and organisational expectations while refresher training reinforces and updates this knowledge, and site‑specific inductions ensure that all persons entering the workplace regardless of employment relationship are aware of the unique risks and controls relevant to that environment. Integrating training with the broader safety management system ensures harmonisation between what is taught and what is practiced, aligning procedures, policies, supervision, and operational realities. This alignment is critical for maintaining regulatory compliance, supporting operational reliability, and ensuring that workers can competently and confidently meet the demands of their roles within a dynamic and evolving risk landscape.
Each workplace is different, with different demands, methods of business, and is staffed by people whose capacities, needs, and risk profiles are different. Managing ergonomic, environmental, and occupational health and safety challenges requires a business to examine and engage with the ecosystem of factors that give rise to risk, and how that risk may affect people. Each workplace is different and so sometimes the same problem will require different solutions. This applies to workers as well - every person is different and so may require different support, supervision, or resources to perform comfortably and sustainably. Under Work Health and Safety law, consultation with the workforce, the control of risk as far as is reasonably practicable, and the provision of information, training, instruction and support to the worker by the workplace, is essential to meet obligations to provide workers with a workplace that is as free of risk as far is reasonably practicable.
In our capacity as consultants, Atlas Physio will explore and scope the business and its needs, examining how exposures, risks, and processes contribute to the hazard ecosystem, best inform the design and arrangement of procedural, policy-based, and practical risk controls. Our solutions are tailored to the needs of those with whom we work, implemented in a simple, sustainable, and supportive fashion, designed to be robust and resilient, and to support the ongoing life of the business as well as the sustainable wellbeing of the workers who undertake the day to day activities of work.
At Atlas Physio, we provide reporting, structured control, and ongoing management of risk onsite, on the road, and wherever work is done. We are open seven days a week, and are happy to offer a brief complimentary discussion to explore the needs of your business and your workers if you are an employer, and your needs if you are a worker. Reach out today to arrange a discussion and take the first step toward managing risk and working safely, supported by expertise that is practical, reliable, and designed to deliver lasting results.