Mitigating Hesitations and Hazards

The benefits of online safety training A number of companies are now turning to online safety training to help their employees meet the health and safety requirements of their industries. While the concept of online learning has been around for many years, it is only recently that many organizations are accepting (and at times expecting) that safety certificates for a number of construction safety training courses be from online sources. As with anything that begins online, there were a number of hesitations towards online learning. However, many of those hesitations have been mitigated, much in the same ways that safety hazards are mitigated in the workplace, as the option for online learning has proven many times over that it is by far one of the best ways to ensure competent and safe workers on the job. Better Learning Many online safety courses include exam questions throughout and at the end of course content. Systems will track right and wrong answers, and eliminate the learners’ abilities to simply push “back” to change their responses (and thus their final marks). Learners who do not pass courses online will have to take them again. This is in stark contrast to in-class settings, where learners can use each other for answers or where answers are freely given by the instructor. Also, learning is self-paced. A user who is quick to learn can avoid wasting time in a class full of questions he or she already knows the answers to. In the same vein, foreign learners who need extra time due to a language barrier are still able to complete the course while remaining confident that they have indeed learned the information necessary to prevent themselves and other from getting hurt. Saving Time and Money The costs incurred through traditional classroom learning can add up quickly. The cost of a course is sometimes quadrupled by travel, hotel and meal costs, as well as the cost of site downtime. With online learning, the only costs incurred are the costs of the course itself. The course can be completed anytime, anywhere, as long as there is an internet connection. Consistent Messages While the benefits of an in-person instructor are many, one of the faults is that not all instructors will treat content the same and there is no sure-fire way to guarantee that an instructor won’t miss a topic or accidentally offer the wrong information to the classroom. Thus, another benefit of online learning is that courses are developed by teams of people in the industry. Courses undergo many approvals at different levels to ensure that all the required information is present and accurate before the course is delivered to the public. In this way, safety concepts are always thorough and consistently delivered. At the forefront of providing online construction safety courses to Canadians is the Canadian Online Safety Training Association. Here, companies can find a variety of online safety learning courses that offer an online certificate of completion. These courses include firefighting online courses, WHMIS, the transportation of dangerous goods, and an electrical safety online course.