Safety Training Programs: What Every Dealership Needs to Know

While it may be tempting to jump straight into training when developing your Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) program, proper groundwork is essential. You need to establish your safety team, conduct initial assessments, develop written programs and policies, and complete a chemical inventory first. However, once that foundation is in place, training becomes the most critical component of your entire safety and environmental program.

Why Training Can’t Be an Afterthought

Many organizations make the dangerous assumption that employees inherently know how to handle workplace safety situations through common sense. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Your employees need to thoroughly understand your program’s policies and procedures – and this only happens through comprehensive training.

This is especially crucial given today’s workforce demographics. In the dealership world, we’re seeing many young technicians entering the field who may think they know everything but demonstrate daily that there are significant gaps in their safety knowledge. Without proper training, these knowledge gaps create serious risks.

Real-World Examples Show Why Assumptions Are Dangerous

Let’s look at some common examples that demonstrate why we can’t assume employee knowledge:

Fire Safety Misconceptions

Many employees believe they know how to use a fire extinguisher – just pull the pin, aim, and shoot, right?

In reality, during hands-on fire extinguisher training, employees are often shocked to learn that an extinguisher only lasts about 10 seconds before it’s empty. They’ve never heard of the PASS system (Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep) until they receive proper training. These kinds of misconceptions could be deadly in an emergency.

Chemical Hazard Communication

Even with clearly visible warning symbols, employees may not understand what they’re seeing. For instance, an exclamation mark in a red diamond might seem like it’s highlighting an “exciting” chemical, when it actually indicates a skin sensitizer – meaning if you’re typically prone to allergic reactions, you’re likely to react to this chemical as well. Without proper training in hazard communication, employees cannot protect themselves from the dangerous substances they work with daily.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

I’ve encountered countless situations where employees believe they’re wearing proper safety glasses when they’re actually wearing standard prescription glasses. Without training, they don’t know that proper safety glasses must be shatterproof, meet ANSI Z87+ standards, and include side shields. This misunderstanding could result in devastating eye injuries.

Equipment Operation

One of the most dangerous assumptions is that anyone can operate a forklift safely without training. Young operators may hop on and start driving without understanding the risks, leading to tragic accidents like tip-overs. Even worse, untrained operators might try to jump from a tipping forklift – exactly the opposite of what they should do – potentially resulting in being pinned under the vehicle.

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New Hire Training: Start Safe from Day One

For new employees, timing is everything. All safety training should be completed before they step foot in potentially hazardous work environments. This isn’t just a best practice – it’s often a regulatory requirement. Waiting until after they’ve started working to provide safety training puts both the employee and the organization at risk.

Training Management: Why Documentation Matters

The old saying “if it’s not documented, it didn’t happen” is especially true for safety training. Yet many organizations still try to manage their training programs through spreadsheets, creating a nightmare of manual tracking and reporting. Consider what happens when you’re trying to:

Determine who has taken which courses
Track whose certifications have expired
Identify who’s due for renewal
Send notifications about upcoming requirements

A proper learning management system eliminates these headaches by:

Automatically tracking completion status
Generating reports of incomplete training
Alerting when certifications are expiring
Maintaining documentation of all training activities

The Bottom Line

Training isn’t just about checking boxes for compliance. It’s about ensuring every employee goes home safely at the end of each day. By investing in comprehensive training programs and proper training management systems, organizations can build a culture of safety that protects their most valuable asset – their people.

Complete Dealership Compliance from KPA

Keep your dealership safe from environmental factors that impact your workers’ and customers’ safety. KPA helps auto dealers maintain cultures of safety, streamline operations, and manage risk through a robust set of tools that includes a combination of consulting, training, and regulatory content.

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