In this day and age of compensation claims for even the most minor strains and accidents it pays all employers to comply with Health and Safety regulations to cover themselves as well as their employees. The Health and Safety Executive regulations have, for a number of years now, made it a legal requirement for all employers to assess and reduce the risk to staff in the workplace.
Some employers, pressed for time as well as money, find this a problem. Whole work days are sometimes lost, venues need to be booked and paid for and transport provided. All this comes at the expense of the employer but surely cannot be as costly as the amount of sick days taken in the name of work related health problems.
Figures from the Health and Safety Executive for 2003/04 show that 448,000 British workers were reported to have suffered from work related musculo-skeletal disorders (the umbrella term for Repetitive Strain Injury). This was a staggering increase of 52,000 from the previous year.
Direct and indirect costs to society amounted to a phenomenal 5.7 pounds billion in the year 2004/5. The Health and Safety Executive attributes this to the 450,000 cases of workers absent through back complaints and 375,000 through back and upper limb disorders. Amazingly, they even report seven year old children to be suffering RSI complaints so schools also need to implement the regulations.
Repetitive Strain Injury is a common occurrence in offices where staff spend the majority of their day sat in front of a VDU, or DSE. Display Screen Equipment is a broader term for VDU and covers all the equipment at a desk including keyboard and mouse, which have been the cause of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome when used incorrectly.
DSE Risk Assessment and Training are Health and Safety requirements and are quite simple to practice. There are recommended guidelines for the angle of a VDU, the positioning of a keyboard, mouse, desk and chair. All should be set up for the individual employee to ensure comfortable working positions.
Employers are liable for the cost of sight tests for VDU operators when requested but there is no evidence that, when used properly, a VDU screen would cause any health problems. Only when there is unnecessary glare, bad posture or a wrongly positioned unit does a problem occur. There is certainly no evidence to suggest there is any worsening of eyesight from use of a VDU.
So, employees do not want to be injured at work and employers do not want to spend man hours and hard earned profits on Health and Safety Training. However, there is a solution. It is now possible to train all employers and their staff in all Health and Safety aspects without ever having to leave their badly positioned, overly bright VDU or their wonky chair.
It is now possible to meet all the legal requirements of Health and Safety Training on line. It is called Health and Safety e-learning. Risk assessments are set out for employers and employees can set their own agenda for DSE training thus reducing impact on work schedules. Training can be completed over time at a pace that suits the individual and training certificates can be printed out at the conclusion.
This solution is cost effective, requiring minimal resources and a Learning Development Advisor is assigned to the company involved to keep track of the training. It is also recommended that results be saved to a database to establish an audit trail and prove your company's compliance with Health and Safety Regulations.
Both the demand and the available options for Health and Safety Distance Learning are high in USA, thanks to the growing public demand for wider and stricter regulations from the government's side to ensure safe and healthy workplaces. Career options include Health & Safety Specialists, and Health & Safety Technicians. If you are responsible to the core, concerned about society's safety, and a troubleshooter by nature, nothing can be more rewarding than one of these careers.
The field of Health and Safety should not be confused with the field of Safety Engineering. The more formal title for Health and Safety is Occupational Safety and Health. While Safety Engineering is a full-fledged branch of Engineering, Occupational Safety and Health is more of a scientific, medical, technical, managerial, & regulatory domain. This is reflected in its administration in the country by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) coming under the US Department of Labor, and The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) under the US Department of Health and Human Services.
What it Involves
Health and Safety Distance Learning involves taking an Associate, Bachelors, or Graduate Degree in Occupational Safety and Health through the distance or online mode. Several Graduate and Undergraduate Certificate Courses are also available. Those planning to become Health and Safety Technicians can go for an Associate or even a Certificate Course, while those aspiring to become Health and Safety Specialists should go for at least a Bachelors, as the main employer in the domain, the Federal and State Governments, have fixed it as the minimum qualification.
However, there are more Graduate Degree Courses in Health and Safety Distance Learning than Bachelors or Associate Degree Courses. This is mainly driven by the private sector's preference to employ Graduate experts with a firm background in supporting subjects like Science or Medicine.
Various professional certifications available in this domain like the Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), Occupational Health and Safety Technologist (OHST) require passing stringent examinations, and the training for them are also available through Health and Safety Distance Learning.
Why Health and Safety?
The discipline of Occupational Safety and Health is a fast growing field that is concerned with the safety and health of employees, customers, and the public. While the best managed companies go in for elaborate Health and Safety Departments to stand out in business ethics and cut the loss of employee productivity, many others are forced to create a Health and Safety program, at least to comply with the civil and criminal laws and thus avoid litigation. This has resulted in the field growing steadily over the past several years, and is expected to grow even further, through the next ten years.
Specialists and Technicians in this field get to work in large private firms or Governments (Federal, State, or Local), where the overall benefits will be much better than in smaller organizations. Most Health and Safety Specialists earn approximately between US $40,000 to US $80,000, while Technicians can expect a salary between US $30,000 to US $70,000.
Why Health and Safety Distance Learning?
Since it is a critical service, the private sector as well as governments demand experience in the field as a prerequisite for employment. This has resulted in a preference for those already exposed to the domain, due to work in an allied field obtained after undergraduate education in engineering, biology, or chemistry. As such, it is very important for those aspiring to be a Health and Safety Professional to undertake simultaneous work in this domain or in an allied field. The best option for such candidates is Health and Safety Distance Learning.
Universities & Colleges Offering Health and Safety Distance Learning
Many Universities and colleges offer Health and Safety Distance Learning courses, but the course names tend to be very different from each other. Tulane University offers three Graduate Degrees in the field, which are distinguished for their real-time, live interaction sessions over the internet. Spanning two years, these courses are Masters of Public Health (MPH) in Occupational Health and Safety Management, MPH in Occupational Health for Health Professionals, and Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in Industrial Hygiene.
Indiana State University offers a Master of Science in Health and Safety, with a specialization in Occupational Safety Management. The course delivery is primarily through television, but a weekly personal interaction with the instructor might be necessary.
Montana Tech Graduate School of University of Montana offers an online M.S. in Industrial Hygiene. Featuring advanced study in Occupational Health, the course also equips the students for the certification program by American Board for Industrial Hygiene. Montana Tech makes no distinctions between its regular and online students for this course.
Apart from such prestigious Universities, many smaller institutions also offer Health and Safety Distance Learning. However, prospective students need to ascertain the accreditation details as numerous institutions with poor accreditations also offer these courses.
Both Shaun Parker & Jim Zorn are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Shaun Parker has sinced written about articles on various topics from Online Marketing, Auto Insurance and Wedding Bells. Health and Safety expert Shaun Parker looks into the new on line training. To find out more please visit. Shaun Parker's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.
Jim Zorn has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing and Communications, Careers and Job Hunting and Learn Spanish. Jim Zorn is web master of the Guide to Distance Learning. Please visit to learn more about online colleges and universities, distance learning degrees, majors and courses offered.. Jim Zorn's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.