Occupational Safety & Health Training Model

1. Occupational Safety & HealthTraining Model Joe McNicholas - July 2000

2. Training Guidelines • Determine if training is appropriate. • Identify training requirements. • Set goals and objectives. • Design the course. • Conduct the Training. • Evaluate Programme Effectiveness. • Improve the Programme. • Record everything.

3. Is Training Appropriate? • First step – why training? • Legal requirement. • Health & safety at work etc act. • COSHH. • Abrasive wheels. • Manual handling . • Personal protective equipment. • Young person. • Problem solving. • Lack of knowledge of process or materials. • Not familiar with work equipment. • Not carrying out the task correctly. • High accident/incident rate. • Complacency. Training for the sake of it is counter productive and more often than not, worthless!

4. Identifying Training Requirements • The next step is to determine what training is needed. • General. • Basic awareness for all employees. • Supervision/ Management. • Part of the Health & Safety Policy • Specific • Legal requirement. • New machinery. • New process. • First Aid Are the required training skills available in-house or should an external organisation be considered.

5. Set Goals & Objectives • When training requirements have been identified, goals and objectives need to be set. These need to be conveyed to the audience What are we trying to achieve? Safety Culture       Legal Compliance Accident Reduction   

6. Set Goals & Objectives • For the training to be successful, clear and measurable objectives should be thought-out before the training begins. • For an objective to be effective it should identify: • How the audience can demonstrate that they understand the goals and objectives. • That the objective has been reached. • They should also describe the important conditions how the audience will demonstrate competence and define what constitutes acceptable performance.

7. Design The Course. • When objectives have stated what the training programme will achieve, then the course can be designed. • Audience. • Management. • Supervision. • Shopfloor. • Contractors. • Material. • Handouts or manual. • Reference books. • Presentation • Video/ Audio • Lecture • Role play • Content. • Risk assessment. • Specific regulations. • Industry standards. • Designed to suit the audience. • Duration.

8. Design The Course. • To be motivated to learn the material being presented, employees must be convinced of the importance and relevance of the material.

9. Conducting The Training • When all previous steps have been developed. You are ready to conduct the training. • The training should be presented so that its organization and meaning are clear to the audience it is aimed at. • To do so, trainers should: • Provide overviews of the material to be learned. • Relate, wherever possible, the new information or skills to the audience’s goals, interests, or experience. • Reinforce what they have learned by summarizing the programme's objectives and the key points of information covered. • These steps will assist employers in presenting the training in a clear, unambiguous manner.

10. Conducting The Training • Allowing employees to participate in the training and practice their skills and knowledge will help maximise the effectiveness of the training programme. • This will help to make sure that they are learning the required knowledge or skills and permit correction if necessary. • Employees become involved in the training process by: • Participating in discussions. • Asking questions. • Contributing their knowledge and expertise. • Learning through hands-on experiences. • Through role-playing exercises.

11. Evaluate Programme Effectiveness • All too often training is carried out with no thought as to effectiveness, thus defeating the object of the training in the first instance. • Review and evaluate. • Feedback on completion of the course. • Safety inspections and audits. • Check accident/ incident statistics. • Changes in regulations. • Changes in company policy. Carry out improvements

12. Record Everything • Determine if training is appropriate. • Minutes of meeting, memos. • Identify training requirements. • Drafts, minutes of meeting. • Set goals and objectives. • Drafts, minutes of meeting. • Design the course. • Who was involved, drafts, minutes. • Conduct the training. • Copy of material, log of attendees, certificates. • Evaluate programme effectiveness. • Questionnaires, reviews. • Improve the programme. • How & why, minutes.