Edition No. 16

Six Steps to Developing a Successful EHS Training Program

by Susan Creighton, CSP, Principal Consultant, EORM, Inc.

A critical element of every environmental, health, and safety (EHS) program, and one that company executives expect from their EHS managers, is the development and delivery of training courses. Meeting this expectation in today’s resource-constrained, outsourced world is a challenge for even the most proficient of EHS professionals and can be daunting for training coordinators who have EHS as one of their many responsibilities. They’re tasked with designing a comprehensive EHS training program that fits the budget and efficiently transmits the needed information to the right population in a timely way. This article outlines six steps to help you implement a new training program or jump start an existing one.

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Step 1: Evaluating your Training Needs

The first step in designing a comprehensive and efficient training program is to complete a Training Needs Assessment. This involves evaluating the risks associated with the various job categories and/or tasks performed at your operation. The most effective tool available to the training coordinator is the JHA or job hazard analysis (an assessment of the hazards and controls needed for a worker’s job description). Whether determined through the JHA or other means, training requirements specified by regulations, codes, and standards must be considered. Unless the operation has a training coordinator knowledgeable in EHS hazards and controls, OSHA, EPA, DOT, and related EHS agencies and industry organizations, this step is often challenging. In the absence of this resource, your options are:

Each option grows increasingly more expensive in up-front costs. However, when the solutions are comprehensive, consolidated, and blended between computer-based and instructor-led learning, the cost-effectiveness improves. By combining an appropriate set of classes with an effective training method, both the learning time and the training costs are optimized.

Regardless of which option you choose, your training requirements must meet the needs of your target audiences. The training coordinator can use job hazard analysis and regulatory requirements to match the correct safety topics to affected populations. To ensure that the appropriate population is identified, the coordinator should work with area managers to carefully match the audience with the curriculum. That’s the easy part. Tracking the training requirements against completion rates (also known as training penetration) can be an ongoing and time-intensive challenge. Again, this can be done in-house with a spreadsheet, hired out to systems analysts, or managed through an online learning management system. Likewise, the costs of these options vary greatly and will increase as technology-based solutions are used.

As stated earlier, technology-based tracking solutions over time will cost less because they use less manpower.

Step 2: Course Content

The next step is developing and organizing the training program. Ideally, course offerings should be organized so that employees encountering similar hazards are provided the same training “package.” For example, office workers typically need ergonomics, evacuation and emergency procedures, and an overview of the hazards at their work location. In contrast, a manufacturing employee has different ergonomic risks but similar evacuation and emergency training needs. They may also require additional training such as controls for chemical and electrical hazards in their work. Here you will find the best opportunity for productivity gains through the creation of comprehensive and consolidated course bundles designed for learning efficiency. A list of your operation’s EHS training courses should be cross-referenced against personnel job classifications to identify consolidation opportunities. This process is iterative and must be periodically reviewed to monitor business, workforce, and hazard changes that would possibly impact the combination of classes.

Step 3: Selecting the Best Training Method(s)

Based on the demographics of the audience, the training coordinator must determine which of the following three methods will be the most effective in delivering EHS training.

The upfront costs of classroom training are the lowest of the three methods because once the class materials are developed, they can be easily modified with updates and revisions. In addition, the instructor is usually the subject matter expert and the amount of preparation time per hour of instruction is generally pretty low (may range from 2 to 8 hrs of prep per hour of instruction). However, this method has long-term recurring costs for instructors and classroom facilities. Additional negatives of classroom training include longer instruction time per student, the difficulty of scheduling around production demands, and in the case of dispersed workforces, (e.g., field personnel), very high travel costs.

Online training reduces long-term costs and increases overall enterprise productivity because each student logs on at a time convenient to his or her work schedule. In addition, the time spent covering the materials is generally half that of the time spent in classrooms. Furthermore, if the courses are designed properly, with interactions that make the learner think during the training, the learning experience can be of a higher quality than a classroom lecture. However, online training is expensive to develop and requires specialized programming skills to perform updates and revisions.

Companies also have the option of choosing blended learning which combines online training for knowledge-based learning and classroom training for skills development courses. Blended learning offers two key advantages-- its effective use of time and the improvement of overall student comprehension and retention. The awareness level components can be easily and effectively performed online, bringing all the students to a common knowledge level. Then skills can be covered in interactive classroom or practical settings. For example, if you are training personnel in emergency response, you could cover basics about chemicals, incident command, PPE, and so on through eLearning. Then when all the learners have covered the “general education” elements, they would learn the necessary skills of actually using PPE, detection, cleanup, and decontamination equipment in hands-on, classroom, and practical settings.

It’s always best to run pilot courses for all newly developed material, whether they are classroom or computer-based. Feedback from pilot audiences provides the training coordinator with valuable information on clarity of the message as well as effectiveness of the delivery. If pilot classes can not be conducted, make sure that course evaluations of the initial classes are carefully monitored for critical feedback.

Step 4: Publicizing your Courses

Although you may have created the best, most comprehensive training courses, if people don’t register and attend, your program is destined to fail. Communicating the training schedule and a list of course offerings, including requirements, pre-requisites, and course descriptions is critical. This can be achieved through e-mail to a distribution list for smaller organizations or through websites, intranet, or a learning management system for larger organizations. Regardless of the means, enrollment confirmation and training date reminders should be sent to registrants on an ongoing basis prior to the training.

Step 5: Measuring the Success

Whichever training methodology you choose, a course evaluation system must be implemented so that feedback can be gathered on a regular basis for continual improvement purposes. The training coordinator needs to collect training penetration and effectiveness data. Communicating this data to management is important in getting full enrollment and obtaining reinforcement of training material by supervisors and managers once students have completed the courses. Without training penetration reports, courses will not be fully attended and enrollment over the long run can decline. Ideally, training course content should be correlated to changes in employee behavior that are improving the overall business performance, for example:

Focus on only a few key program areas to ensure your message is clear and does not overwhelm management. With concise and consistent messages, managers can easily understand and reinforce the information and requirements provided through the training.

Step 6: Continuous Improvement

Once the program is underway, the training coordinator must determine all training recertification intervals. Some regulatory programs define training recertification intervals, others specify competency expectation, and others give no guidance. The onus is on the organization to ensure employees know and follow requirements and regulations. Therefore, the training coordinator decides what best fits the business needs and employee turnover rate. The coordinator should also periodically evaluate training requirements and business changes to ensure training is up-to-date and comprehensive. Continuous improvement to the established process determines whether the EHS training budget is adequate for the business goals and will help demonstrate program efficiency.

Today’s world demands that all programs run with an efficiency and cost-effectiveness not previously seen before. Establishing and maintaining an EHS training program that follows a set process enables the training coordinator to build a comprehensive and compliant program that can be aligned with the available budget. With careful planning and execution, your EHS training programs can meet current demands for cost and effectiveness.

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