Online training is rather in vogue nowadays. It can be easily accessed, is often less expensive than having an actual instructor perform the training, it complies with OSHA regulations and can be done anytime during the day or the weekend.
But no matter how well an online training course is structured, there are major flaws. Recently a new hire had to attend my safety orientation and he proudly announced that he had just completed the OSHA 10-hr Outreach online. He explained to me that he even had to take a test at the end of each section to pass the 10-hr training. “That’s great”, I said, “that means that the information I am about to give you is not new and you can tell me about your online training experience”. Well, to make a long story short, it turned out that he had no clue about even the most basic safety rules. When it came to fall protection, he did not know the difference between fall arrest and fall restraint, had never heard about SRLs, and could not give example of passive fall protection. I finally gave up on trying finding out what he knew and what not and just continued with my orientation training.
When we were done, he looked at me and said: “I now understand the difference between real training and online training. I wish you would have done the 10-hr.” Well, of course I was pleased to hear that but that’s beside the point. The point is that he spent 10 or more hours going through the online training and did not get anything out of it. I have yet to review one of those programs, so I cannot tell whether he was simply not paying attention at all and it was just a routine exercise with such a simple set-up that only his short term memory was involved but he did not retain any of the information or whether his example is only one of many.
No matter how well you set up online training, you will never be able to replace a trainer. Face-to-face interaction, the ability of ask questions, the trainer being able to get the vibes from the group whether they are paying attention and whether they are interested or not, hands-on training, workshops, group or partner work, all that is missing on online training.
I have been very lucky to have gone through training that was presented by an instructor whose knowledge, training skills, dedication and passion for safety is unrivalled. I owe him a lot. I use many of his approaches because there are none better.
I can only hope that I will have many opportunities to retrain those folks who have gone through the online training with dubious results. Safety training is not about looking at slides or texts on a screen and taking a quiz, but it is about actively starting the safety spark in each and everyone of the guys out in the field or in the manufacturing plans who are dealing with imperfect systems and designs and who need to know how to protect themselves from workplace hazards.
Meike Patten
