June 13, 2016
Dave’s alarm clock blared, signaling another day at the factory. For some reason, he found it especially difficult to rise out of bed that day. His wife wasn’t due up for another 45 minutes, so he silenced his alarm clock, kissed her cheek gently and rose to get ready for work as usual. He arrived at his typical spot in assembly at the factory after offering a slight, acknowledging nod to his supervisor. Dave may have been feeling a little cloudy that morning, but his body was so used to the repetitive motion of his factory position that he often went into autopilot and reflected on his life, his goals, and tasks that needed to be done at home.
Suddenly, Dave’s supervisor’s head whipped over toward where Dave was working, upon hearing Dave let out a blood curdling yell. He saw Dave clutching his right arm, looking as pale as a white cotton sheet. With a look of horror, he stared at where his right hand used to reside. As Dave’ supervisor looked at the machine (lacking the proper machine guards) and Dave’s bloody arm, he instantaneously pieced together what had happened. The industrial machine had amputated Dave’s right hand. As his supervisor screamed for one of the other workers to call an ambulance, Dave passed out while still clutching his right arm with his remaining left hand, blood pouring over his wedding band. 
So I’m not going to lie, I just completely made up that scenario. Dave is a fictional character, and wasn’t based off of anyone in particular. I know it was grizzly, and I’m sorry to place you there, BUT I’m sad to report that it is an incredibly realistic scene. So realistic in fact that thousands of worker amputations happen every year. What happened to Dave (though fictional) was completely preventable, propelling one of the multiple reasons why we have workplace safety standards and training. Somewhere along the way, some company had a hazard that harmed someone. This ultimately mandated a series of standards for workplaces with the intent to prevent that harm from happening again. Should a company not be taking measures to uphold that standard through safety compliance, the company is essentially providing an opening for that incident (such as that which happened to Dave) to happen again. An immense amount of our time and energy is devoted to our jobs, and a successful workplace doesn’t suppress or endanger its employees.
Luckily, nowadays an employer can find training such as amputation risk safety, diversity, machine guard safety, and infinite more safety trainings across virtually every industry. Mandatory workplace training not only educates but prevents the preventable; enabling a safe, comfortable, and ultimately productive workplace. Emerging industries and advancements have drastically widened the realm of workplace safety education, accessible by all platforms consistent with modern technology. 
One means of workplace safety training outshines the rest in terms of vastness of topics, ease of accessibility, and price point. WAVE by Atlantic Training is an online workplace safety video streaming library where employers can gain access to a plethora of safety education videos via computer or mobile device, at any time of the day. The robust library is host to over a thousand workplace safety videos that are viewable online with high resolution options, and are automatically updated to remain OSHA AtlantcTrainingt. Using a login and password, employers, managers, and human resources departments can customize their own personal library with safety titles specific to their industry. In addition, the titles come with free training materials allowing the employee to interact with the training and maintain their engagement through easy to navigate LMS.
While WAVE certainly boasts a variety of features that makes it a standalone in the workplace safety industry, how exactly does that transcribe to the benefits of you and your company?
Time is money: the process from you signing up for WAVE and being able to access any safety training video is instantaneous. There is no waiting for a DVD to be shipped or scheduling of training sessions. You see an employee, or multiple employees needs a training? You buy a “view”, they watch it, and you’re done. You can email them the link to the video they need to watch, and you have the ability to know if they watch it not. The process has been simplified to save you and your employee time. In addition, WAVE by Atlantic Training has been set at an extremely competitive price point, allowing it to outshine competitors in not only experience, but also in cost.
Education is Important: education is both a necessity and an investment. Being educated about risks, hazards, processes, etc. can help you and your employees remain vigilant of hidden risks within the company. Workplace safety education prevents costly liabilities, lawsuits, and devastation.
Safety compliance is mandatory: accidents, injuries, lawsuits, and workplace tragedies are the reasons why compliance of safety standards are mandatory. In order to create a comfortable, safe, and nurturing environment for employees to be motivated and productive, these safety standards must be upheld.
Above all, it is a company’s moral duty to protect their employees (like Dave). Making way for WAVE at your workplace is undoubtedly the best way to do it.
