Johannesburg, South Africa, 21 November 2024 – Leading HSE training provider, SafetyCloud, announces the launch of Learn On The Go, a WhatsApp-based platform for companies that bridges the gap between safety knowledge and workplace application, ensuring workers stay informed, compliant, and safe.
With the fast pace of occupational health, safety, and environment (HSE), staying informed and up to date is crucial for both employers with compliance, and employees for safety on the ground.
Communicating relevant HSE messages between safety teams and employees can be complex and repetitive, but with SafetyCloud’s new product service, HSE learning is made quicker, easier, timeous and, scalable for large organisations, enabling organisations to mitigate risks in real time, averting injury, lost time, first aid cases and fatalities.
SafetyCloud, who run two of South Africa’s most popular HSE products – NOSA and SAMTRAC– are experts in workplace safety. This year, NOSA celebrated 70 years of improving workplace safety in SA with grading audits, when at the time, the country had recorded 4.1 deaths and disabling injuries per 200,000 employee hours. Within 25 years, this number dropped to 1.1.
SafetyCloud’s Learn On The Go product leverages WhatsApp’s widespread reach and ease of use to put knowledge directly at employees’ fingertips. As of the third quarter of 2023, some 94 percent of internet users in the country used the WhatsApp messaging app, making it the most popular social media in South Africa.
Francois Vermaak, Head of Sales at SafetyCloud, explained: “Communicating HSE messaging can be a challenge for organisations with a widely geographically distributed workforce. But safety protocols, regulations, and best practices are constantly evolving, and organisations need efficient ways to ensure that their employees remain well-versed in these critical matters.”
SafetyCloud’s experience as a leading occupational health and safety training provider to major organisations in South Africa has shown that traditional communication platforms like email can be a challenge when not all employees have access. In-person briefings and meetings, or toolbox talks, also pose a challenge if there are no guarantees that all attendees have understood the briefing.
“We are extremely excited at the difference this new method of learning important HSE topics will make to the South African employee. Safety is critical in the manufacturing, agriculture, logistics and large firm set ups. With SafetyCloud’s Learn On The Go, we have tailor-made dashboards and polls, meaning organisations have the ability to confirm that an employee has read and understood a briefing,” said Vermaak.
SafetyCloud’s Learn On The Go offers:
- Customised learning content for individual roles and responsibilities
- Anytime, anywhere access via WhatsApp
- Bite-sized, engaging modules (microlearning)
- Real-time safety alerts and reminders
- Reporting dashboards for performance tracking
The tailored WhatsApp interventions, built with reporting functionality in mind to suit a team’s specific needs enables Safety Officers to distribute important safety documents, videos and polls easily, while simultaneously capturing key feedback and data from teams. Additionally, companies can transform their Toolbox Talks into more efficient exchanges where all team members are provided with critical communications, gather insights and monitor feedback, all on one platform.
According to a World Economic Forum report, six in 10 workers will require training before 2027, but only half of workers are seen to have access to adequate training opportunities today. Coupled with staggering statistics from the International Labour Organization (ILO), which show that nearly three million workers die every year due to work-related accidents and diseases, while more than 300 million non-fatal work-related injuries occur globally each year, the need for increased safety training is critical.
“Recognising the urgent need to address these kinds of pressing issues, SafetyCloud is committed to equipping organisations with the necessary tools and resources to effectively manage and mitigate these risks with enhanced and up-to-date training. The era of mundane safety manuals and unengaging toolbox talks has come to an end. SafetyCloud, your reliable safety partner, is revolutionising the way employees engage with essential Occupational HSE information, offering this convenient and user-friendly experience – through WhatsApp,” said Vermaak.
For more information, visit: https://safetycloud.co.za/learn-on-the-go/ Or contact SafetyCloud at +27 87 330 3790 or via email: learnonthego@safetycloud.co.za
SafetyCloud is a leading provider of occupational health, safety, and environmental risk management solutions. Our expertise and innovative approach enable organizations to achieve excellence in safety and risk management. The South African government established the National Occupational Safety Association (NOSA) in 1951 to improve workplace safety. At the time, the country had recorded 4.1 deaths and disabling injuries per 200,000 employee hours. Within 25 years, this number dropped to 1.1. Over 70 years later, NOSA – now SafetyCloud – remains the industry leader in occupational health, safety, and environmental training. We’ve helped over 20,000 businesses to build their safety cultures and create healthy, happy work environments. These businesses have not only decreased accidents in the workplace, but they’ve also cut costs and improved their B-BBEE scorecards.