(Note: This article is based on the newly revised, 2016 version of ANSI Z490.1.)
Let’s continue our series of articles about ANSI Z490.1, the US national standard that lays out “Criteria for Accepted Practices in Safety, Health, and Environmental Training.”
In this post, we’ll look at Section 4 of the standard, which focuses on how to develop effective EHS training.
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Section 4 is a big one, and it covers the need for a systematic method for developing EHS training and the steps within that method. That systematic method includes the following steps:
That’s a lot, so let’s get started.
In an earlier blog article about Z490.1, we mentioned they define some of the key terms they use.
We’re going to include a few of those definitions about training so it’s easy to keep them straight if you’re referring directly to the text of Z490.1 (source: Z490.1, Section 2.10).
So how do you decide that it’s time to create EHS training materials? And, once you’ve begun, what’s your method for doing it? At its most basic level, section 4 is intended to help you answer these questions.
It may not seem obvious, but your EHS training program will be much more effective if you always use the same method to:
Let’s look at each of those two points a little more closely.
In this section, we’ll look at the first part of the EHS training development process: the training needs assessment.
We can break the needs assessment down into two smaller parts:
So you’ve got an EHS problem. Or what seems like a problem. Sounds like time for some training, right?
But let’s hold our horses here. When you’ve got a problem, it’s easy to assume that training is a universal band-aid that will fix it. But that’s not always true.
If you rush to provide training, you may end up wasting money on training development when training can’t solve the problem, or when there’s a better solution. And so you risk wrongly putting your resources into training development, ignoring a different aspect of the situation, and leaving a hazard in place.
For example, say a machine operator gets his hand cut while working on a machine. You can create training materials for machine operators, telling them to be careful of a dangerously exposed moving blade. Or, you can put a guard on the blade, control the hazard, and skip the training. In this instance, installing a guard on the sharp blade is the better solution, and so no training would be necessary.
That’s a simple example, and there are more reasons why EHS training may or may not be needed, but it gets you started in the right direction.
On the other hand, there are many times when training is the right answer. For example, you probably remember OSHA’s recent adoption of HazCom 2012 and GHS Alignment. Training was the right answer in this case for two reasons. First, because it was the right and safe thing to do. In OSHA’s own words, employees “Workers have the right to know what hazards are present in the workplace and how to protect themselves.” And second, because OSHA specifically said you had to do it. It was a regulatory compliance issue.
So yes, training is the right solution in a case like that.
Here are some things to consider at this phase:
For more on determining if training is the correct response, check this article on analyzing performance problems.
If it turns out that EHS training is a good solution, you can move on part 2 of the training needs assessment, when you gather some information that will help you design and develop the training.
Information to gather at this point includes:
You can gather this information in a number of ways, including:
Need a quick way to find which OSHA regulations apply to you?
Two nice resources that OSHA provides are this Small Business Compliance Guide and this Compliance Assistance Quick Start.
Once you’ve performed your training needs assessment, it’s time to develop your learning objectives.
A learning objective is something the employee should know or be able to do when the training is complete. It’s the point of providing the training–because you want the employee to know or do something. It’s what the French would call the training’s “raison d’etre,” or reason for being. Of course, we’re not in France, so that’s not so important, but you get the point 🙂
Your course should have one or more learning objectives.
Many people begin creating training materials before they create learning objectives. Or, they never create learning objectives. The problem with this is you’re likely to create meandering, content-heavy, “flabby,” and irrelevant training materials that don’t solve your problem. If you’ve heard of “information dumps” or “spray-and-pray” training, this is the most likely cause. So don’t be that trainer creator–create learning objectives, and create them before you create the training.
If you’re new to learning objectives, it’s helpful to know two acronyms:
These are short-hand ways or referring to methods to create a good learning objective.
Let’s look at each.
First, your learning objective should have four parts–A, B, C, and D. These parts are:
Notes: You don’t always have to write the name of your actor in your learning objectives (meaning, use the words “you” or “employees” within the objective). But, you should always remember that you’re writing an objective that an ‘actor’–your employees–must be able to perform. Also, you may find you don’t need a condition or a degree for every learning objective, but it’s a good idea to always ask if you need them when you’re writing each learning objective. The important thing is to make sure you’re very clear and leave no room for confusion or misunderstanding.
Click here for more about ABCD learning objectives.
Next, your learning objectives should be SMART. What does that mean? It means your learning objectives should be:
Click here for more information about SMART learning objectives.
There are two common methods for creating learning objectives: Bloom’s Taxonomies and Performance-Based Learning Objectives.
Bloom’s Learning Taxonomies
You can use Bloom’s Learning Taxonomies to help you pick the correct “behavior” word within your learning objective.
Click here to read more about Bloom’s three learning taxonomies and/or click here to read a nice summary of how to use this approach together with the ABCD and SMART methods in this guide to writing learning objectives.
Performance-Based Learning Objectives
Writing a performance-based learning objective is pretty similar to the method we’ve described already. For example, the “behavior” in an ABCD learning objective is the “performance” in a performance-based learning objective.
If you want to know more, we’ve got two options for you:
Download our free Ultimate Guide to Writing Learning Objectives for Workforce Training here.
Sometime after you’ve created your learning objectives, and either before or very early in the process of designing and developing EHS training, you’re going to have to consider any necessary prerequisites for the training you’re developing.
What background, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities will employees need before they begin your training so that they can perform well and have a fair shot at satisfying your learning objectives?
Determine a list of the course prerequisites, and come up with a way of notifying workers of the prerequisites, and helping workers attain those prerequisites if necessary.
Once you’ve got your learning objectives in order (and given some thought to the prerequisites, as explained above), it’s time to design and develop your course.
In this phase, you’ll consider:
Let’s see what each of these are about.
So you’re going to develop some EHS training.
How will your employees experience it? Will they attend an instructor-led classroom training session? Will they watch a video? Will they read a PDF or a PowerPoint presentation? Will they do some hands-on exercises in the field? Will they complete an e-learning course?
As you see, there are quite a few options, including:
In general terms, each of these types of training delivery methods has some strengths and weaknesses. And so for each training need, you should try to select the right delivery method (or mix of delivery methods–we’ll get back to that point shortly).
When selecting the most appropriate delivery method, one thing to think of is the stuff you learned about the employees (your training population) during the training needs assessment.
Is there a type of training that they prefer more than others? If so, you may want to try to use that.
Do some employees have trouble reading? If so, written training materials may not be a good choice.
Are the employees spread out throughout multiple different locations? If so, e-learning that can be delivered online (or a webinar) may be a good option.
Run through your training needs assessment at this point and look for any clues that suggest one training delivery method may be more helpful than others.
Selecting the Training Delivery Method, Consideration 2: Appropriate to Learning Objective
The next thing to consider when selecting the training delivery method, according to Z490.1, is how well the method matches the learning objective that the workers will have to satisfy.
You may find that some types of training delivery are more appropriate for specific learning objectives.
For example, if an employee has to learn to “state” a definition or “list” some things, written materials, a video, or a simple e-learning course may be the right training delivery method.
On the other hand, if an employee has to learn a complicated procedure, some hands-on field-based training may be a better option.
A last thing to consider when selecting the training delivery method, according to Z490.1, is if the method will provide “adequate feedback mechanism for trainee questions and concerns to ensure comprehension of content” (source: Section 4.4.1)
Let’s take a closer look at two of the words in that sentence:
What does “feedback” mean?
In the context of EHS training delivered to your employees, feedback can mean a number of things. These can include:
What does “adequate” mean?
Next, let’s look at “adequate.” It standards to reason that some courses will require a LOT of opportunity for feedback, and others won’t call for much feedback at all.
For example, your workers will probably have a lot of questions and concerns about a significant change to a safety regulation like the HazCom 2012/GHS example we offered earlier. You might want to develop some form of instructor-led training that allows for a lot of feedback in this case.
Likewise, if you’re implementing a new job procedure, the employee will probably benefit from a lot of feedback as well. But maybe in this case, some form of hands-on and/or on-the-job training with a supervisor providing real-time feedback would be best.
Of course, you may not need so much feedback in other cases. If you’re simply saying that smoking cigarettes is now allowed only outdoors in designated smoking areas and explaining why, maybe a written document distributed to the workers, followed by a simple “Any questions?” is all that’s necessary.
A final thing to keep in mind when selecting a training delivery method is that a “blended learning solution” that makes use of more than one method maybe just what you need. Blended learning solutions use more than one type of training delivery for a given training need-for example, you could assign an e-learning module, hold a follow-up instructor-led training to answer any questions and provide other feedback, and then distribute written documents as reminders or post-training references.
Click to read more about blended learning and download our free blended learning beginner’s guide.
Of course, one very important thing to think about while developing training material in the information you’re trying to get across. In particular, where will you get that information?
According to the ANSI standard (see 4.4.2), you should use credible sources, including:
Once you’ve identified your training audience, your training delivery method, and your learning objectives, it’s time to sit down and begin creating those training materials.
These can include any number of things, including:
There’s a lot to be said about the best ways to create training materials that are truly effective, and we’ll go into more detail on this point again later in this series. But here are a few things to keep in mind:
