The Most Important Video You Never Had?

How online health and safety videos really work…

In this article we are going to tell you exactly why it is so important to have a health and safety video, before I do that find out how this quiet coffee turned into a near disaster for one of the world’s largest companies….

Nearly 3 years ago today I was given a piece of incredible advice. It changed the way I thought about health and safety forever.

So here I was sat in a world famous coffee shop (my home from home) working on a customer and employee engagement website for a client, probably a client just like you.

The coffee house was empty with the exception of me and 2 members of the service team and you will not believe what happened next…

As I am sat working away the lady behind me is walking around the shop collecting cups, her manager yell’s at her to hurry up.

The next thing I hear is an almighty bang as she hits the floor.

She had slipped, rather painfully by the sounds of it.

I got up to help but the manager had already made it to the crash site, but it became obvious that we had a real problem right away.

The manager was in a panic, sweat already dripping down the side of his glasses and a reddening face betraying his understandable attempts to present a cool exterior.

The problem was that although he had been given health and safety training as part of his induction to work course that was 4 years prior to this day.

Luckily for everyone I was able to give the lady the right health and safety support and it seemed she was pretty much unhurt at this point.

Phew.

The manager of this coffee shop was becoming a little angry at this point, probably due to the adrenaline and fear of what might have just happened.

He kept repeating phrases such as:

“She could have been really hurt and I would have been helpless”

“The company could be sued for this”

“The coffee shop could be shut down by health and safety”

I managed to calm both of them down and due to the fact that I still visit this coffee shop on a regular basis I can tell you that she not only made a full recovery but is also now the manager.

Ok, so what did I learn that changed the way I think about online health and safety videos from this point on?

Companies of all sizes across the UK recognise the legal and ethical need to have the very best health and safety provisions.

The traditional thinking had always been to take a “train and refresh” approach to health and safety, but the “refresh” does not always happen.

Is there a solution to this risk that is simple and ensures that a refreshed is available 24/7 and that health and safety knowledge throughout the company is universally understood to a much greater level?

Health and Safety videos on your intranet are now recognised by many as the most efficient & cost effective way to deliver your company health and safety framework.

With an online health and safety video employees and colleagues will have instant access and can keep up to date with official information.

In the event of an accident the chances of someone knowing what to do in the scenario of the usual 1st aider being out to lunch are massively improved.

It is also now rumoured that insurance companies take the deployment of health and safety videos for company websites as a rating factor for policy sales.

In this instance let just sum up the 3 key benefits of having a health and safety video on our websites:

1. It protects everyone in the company from colleagues to customers in a more enhance way than modular training alone.

2. It increases employee engagement and in turn productivity and retention.

3. It impresses clients we all know the value of ‘promoting the right culture’.

The overall point of this article is that video a very powerful medium for delivering a message on your website; it is a known fact that people pay more attention to a video.

Every company should have a good mix of videos on their website, but at the least a health and safety video is a great idea.

I am sure we agree on the benefits of an online health and safety video.

If you do not have a health and safety video – contact us today to talk about the services we provide, we would love to hear from you.