ENGLISH COURSES FOR SAFETY TRAINING
Resources for HR Professionals
Tools for Enhancing Safety Training
Workplace injuries cost U.S. companies $167 billion per year. So it’s only natural that improving safety training should be a big priority for corporate leaders. At many companies, safety can be improved by something that might not seem related at first: English language training. Helping our clients improve workplace safety through language fluency is one of the most important things we do at Fluency Corp. Sometimes people have the misconception that we work only with professionals on international assignments. But we actually work with employees at all levels, and in all locations around the world. And we love seeing how English language training for warehouse workers and other blue-collar employees helps them be more effective and engaged in their jobs, while also helping their employers see more of their potential. So if you’ve been considering English language safety training for your organization, let us run down the benefits for you and give you some tips on selecting a language program that fits your needs.
For more ways to help your employees
learn a new language, check out our blog.
Language Differences Can Cause Safety Issues
When it comes to workplace safety, there’s plenty of room for employers to do better. In a recent survey by Safety + Health magazine, 99% of manufacturing and warehouse employees said they observe a potential workplace hazard at least once a week. No, that’s not a typo. And more than a third of those workers said they see possible hazards at least three times a week.
These safety shortfalls cause problems on many levels. Most importantly, they threaten injury or even death for workers. In 2022, there were more than 4.5 million workplace injuries that required medical consultation, and almost 4,700 preventable, injury-related deaths. Industries with the most preventable injuries included construction (#1), transportation and warehousing (#2) and manufacturing (#5).
But even if no one gets hurt, organizations suffer when employees perceive that their employer doesn’t care about safety. In the Safety + Health magazine survey, 75% of workers said they were more likely to stay with an employer that they feel prioritizes safety. Workers have clear ideas on safety improvements, according to the survey. They want their organization to …
- Respond quickly to safety hazards.
- Communicate with employees in real time about those hazards.
- Give employees better information about personal protective equipment (PPE).
Taking steps like these is harder, though, when there are language differences in a workplace. That’s where Fluency Corp comes in.
What Happens in English Language Training for Safety?
Like we said earlier, Fluency Corp gets a lot of queries about English language training for warehouse and manufacturing employees. A scenario we hear (too) often is that a company has only one or two employees who can translate English-language communications for Spanish-speaking employees. In this situation, it’s easy to see how miscommunications about safety could happen.
Through working with so many clients on English language training to improve safety, we’ve honed a learning process that quickly gets results. We meet with your team of managers, and put together a course based on the most important conversations they need to have with their teams.
Questions we might ask:
- What conversation is most miscommunicated?
- What safety concerns keep you up at night?
- What conversations are proving most difficult?
- What topics or conversations seem to have the most miscommunications?
- Where are the most mistakes happening?
- Which departments are struggling the most? In what areas or topics? With which machines or which processes?
- What conversations do they need to have with outside officials when they come in to check the safety level of your teams?
One size fits all does not work. Every company has their own safety concerns. So that’s why it’s important to customize the course based on your company’s specific needs.
Our safety-focused English course works best for employees who are advanced beginners in English. If your works are complete beginners in English, consider a 13-week course on the basics of English. Your employees will be much better able to grasp the more complicated material of a safety course once they have a stronger foundation in English. (Here’s a handy chart you can use to determine employees’ English proficiency.)
10 Secrets to Managing your Multilingual / Global Workforce
How Fluency Corp Language Classes Work
Fluency Corp has a long track record of helping companies increase the English fluency of workers at all levels. Our success comes from focusing our instruction on the vocabulary employees really need to do their jobs, not cookie-cutter vocabulary lists.
We know you and your employees value flexibility. That’s why we offer English language classes for individuals and small groups in person around the world. Classes are also available online.
No matter the format, though, all of our English classes are taught by live instructors who are native English speakers.
You can learn more about Fluency Corp by reading our client testimonials and case studies, or exploring what makes our proprietary Bellieu Method unique and effective. We’d also love to talk with you about how English language training can support enhanced safety and your other business goals. To open the conversation, get in touch with us now.
Get More Info About Our Language Training Resources
We’d love to talk with you more about how we can support your work with global relocations and international collaboration. To get additional information about how Fluency Corp works with HR professionals seeking language training resources, call us for a free consultation at (800) 401-3159 or fill out the form below.
Yes! My Company has Language Goals.
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