Safety training in the workplace has often been seen as expensive and disruptive to operations and business activities. Many start-ups deem an online safety course to be a cost to organizations that brings little gain.

Unfortunately, staff from all types of industries are injured year after year due to accidents or end up in the hospital due to unassessed situations that could have been avoided by basic workplace safety training courses.

Investing in training in the workplace is money well spent, and there are numerous benefits of workplace health and safety training, providing benefits to the employer and, most notably, to the employee. Businesses with successful health and safety training programs benefit from fewer injuries and lawsuits in the workplace, better employee satisfaction, and lower insurance rates.

Here are a few steps recommended by the OSHA(Occupational Safety and Health Administration) to design and implement effective online safety training:

Determine What Safety Training is Required

Organizations should first ask themselves whether safety training in the workplace is the real solution to the problem at hand.

When problems arise from the quality of work, rather than the workplace environment itself, preparation is the most efficient way to solve the problem. If problems arise from the motivation or the attitude of employees, workplace safety training courses are less effective in correcting these problems.

It is important to analyze the type of issue when assessing employee performance issues in order to determine the best solution. An online training course is most successful in resolving the lack of knowledge of an employee about proper procedures or use of equipment.

Identify the safety training requirements of the workplace

The next step is to accurately determine the exact learning needed to address the gap in knowledge that the workplace safety training courses will address. This process involves determining the specific details that an employee needs to know in order to safely perform the job.

Conducting a work risk assessment is a reliable method for determining the level of online safety training required. This process documents every step of a task while identifying and analyzing potential safety hazards along the way.

By taking the time to evaluate the process, the organization can translate high-risk activities into a priority training plan.

Clearly identified objectives and outcomes of safety training 

Upon clearly identifying training needs, it is important to set learning outcomes and objectives for safety training in the workplace. Effective learning goals need to be transparent and observable so that learning can be assessed at a later date.

Learning outcomes should use descriptive, action-oriented terminology to precisely describe the desired ability or actions. Thorough and details learning objectives allow employees and employers to understand the expected training result.

Develop learning activities for workplace safety 

After the learning goals are clearly identified, the learning activities in the online safety course that support those goals have to be developed. Businesses should consider the techniques, materials, and resources needed to communicate the message most effectively. The sort of training that is selected (e.g. group, one-to-one, etc.) should take the audience, their environment, and specific skills into account.

Ideally, learning programs will include opportunities for staff to demonstrate their training skills and knowledge. These tasks must directly relate to the actual job of the employee and include lessons organized sequentially, in accordance with the position.

Conduct safety training

Now that all the material is ready, the training should be launches and learning should be delivered in a simple and structured way. Provide the learners with an overview of the online safety course to maximize learning and to ensure they understand that the course is relevant to their situation.

Using the lessons that have been learned to keep employees engaged and inspired in the learning, and encourage learners to engage and to practice their new skills along the way. Participation in conversation and the integration of real-life examples into the discussion is a great way to internalize new information.

Evaluate the efficacy of the Workplace Safety Training Program 

Once the online safety training is completed, its effectiveness in achieving defined goals must be assessed. There are two ways to perform an assessment: ask the learners for input by sending them a questionnaire, or by having an informal conversation. This will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of the course, and how it could be improved going forward.

Last note:

Coggno has an extensive list of courses that meets OSHA general industry requirements.

You can have a look at our free courses here and our course catalog here.