Employee Training

Safety training is the means by which a company’s safety policies are communicated to employees. Effective training sessions provide an opportunity to emphasize that workers are a valuable resource and a program exists to protect them, those with whom they work and company assets. Training is to:

• Be site and task specific so employees know how to recognize hazardous situations they may face on a daily basis.
• Ensure that all employees understand the hazards to which they may be exposed
• Demonstrate how employees can prevent harm to themselves and others from exposure to those hazards.
• Identify responsibilities regarding safe work practices

As training sessions are planned, several things should be considered:

• Time of training: Training should be scheduled when employee learning is maximized. Training is often scheduled to eliminate overtime and while this may have to be a factor, employees often find it difficult to participate in training that is presented the last hour of the third shift (11:00 PM to 7:00 AM). Many are tired and anxious to go home so much of the information presented is not retained.
• Training material: Material should be applicable to the work site, not abstract theoretical information that may or may not apply.
• Training methods: Training presentations should be designed for adult learners and include opportunities for interactions among participants and demonstrations of important principles. Many workers retain more of what is seen than what is heard so training should be conducted accordingly.
• Performance assessments: Although having workers take examinations to assess knowledge is not an OSHA requirement, it is a worthwhile exercise. One, if participants know there will be an exam at the end of the session, they do tend to pay more attention, two, testing can emphasize the most important points of a learning session, and three, by reviewing the exam with students it can be used as a learning exercise while correcting wrong answers.

The Virtual Safety Manager (VSM) facilitates employee safety training in several ways:

• Employees are assigned to training groups based on the jobs they perform and the hazards to which they are exposed.
• Training can be assigned to the entire training group or to individuals.
• Classes are available online so employees can take a class at convenient times. This eliminates shift adjustments, bringing relief workers and overtime. Online classes can be accessed from any computer with internet capabilities.
• Classroom training can also be conducted as the material within VSM can be adapted for oral presentations before a group.
• Each training session is accompanied by a quiz to assess employee knowledge and performance.
• VSM tracks all training related information – who needs to be trained on what subject and when are they to be trained – eliminating the need to keep training records via spreadsheets.