SAFETY

PROGRAMMES
Safety Training
Safety training is another area in which service may be provided by government.
Most safety and health legislation features requirements for adequate training. The
extent to which government is directly involved in organizing and providing training
varies considerably. At the highest levels of training—that is, for the safety
professionals—the work is usually undertaken at universities and colleges of
technology. Direct government input at this level is relatively uncommon although
government scientists, lawyers and technologists from inspectorates often do
contribute as lecturers and by providing funding and training materials.
A similar pattern exists at the lower level of skills training for safety. Educational
courses for workers are often conducted by industry, trade or training associations
with an input and funding from the inspectorates, as are courses which are
designed to increase the safety awareness of workers. The function of government
is less to conduct and direct training services, than to stimulate and encourage non-
governmental organizations to do this work, and to contribute directly wherever
appropriate. More direct assistance can be provided through government subsidies
to assist in defraying the costs of training to companies. Much of the material on
which safety training is based is provided by official government publications, notes
of guidance and formally published standards.
Safety and Health Information
A key service is that of publicity for safety and health. This function is not of course
exclusive to government; safety associations, employers’ groups, trade unions and
consultants can all play a part in ensuring a greater awareness of legal requirements, of
standards, of technical solutions and of new hazards and risk. Government may take a
leading role in offering guidance on compliance with legislation and on compliance with
standards governing safety practices, ranging from acceptable methods of machinery
guarding to publicizing tables of exposure limits to hazardous substances.
Safety Representation
Finally, the government provides a service via its representational role within the
international community. Many safety and health problems are international in character
and cannot be confined within national boundaries. Cooperation between governments,
the establishment of internationally accepted standards for hazardous substances, the
exchange of information between governments, support for international organizations
dealing with safety and health—all these are the functions of government, and the
effective discharge of these duties can only serve to enhance both the standing and the
standards of safety and health nationally and internationally.