American Workers Reluctant to Take Safety Training Online

Many workers in the United States have doubts about the credibility of online safety training - OSHA 10.  In this blog entry we shall evaluate the pros and cons of online training vs. on-site training.  Is our reluctance to trust online training legitimate?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recently cracked down on authorized OSHA Outreach trainers who have been conducting classes that do not meet OSHA’s minimum requirements, and yet it is not fraudulent trainers that business owners and their employees are worried about – it’s the online training providers.  Mike D., an electrical contractor from Boston, is among those business owners who do not support online training.  When asked what led him to this sentiment, mike told us, “It’s not that I don’t trust online training providers.  I’m sure online training makes perfect sense for someone else.  I don’t allow my employees to take online OSHA training, because there is no way for me to know whether or not the employee has personally taken the course, and that is a risk I am not willing to take.”  While this may be a valid concern for business owners who share liability for workers on a public job site, it is more a reflection of an employer’s feelings towards his employees, rather than his feelings about online training in general.

Online training may have a loop hole in terms of student accountability, but what about the accountability of on-site trainers?  Who is keeping them in check?  The short answer is OSHA.  The fact of the matter is that OSHA is far too small an organization to monitor each and every trainer out there.  More and more trainers are starting to take advantage of the lax enforcement by offering OSHA 10 hour cards for less than 10 hours of training.  Jesse B., an OSHA trainer is Leominster, has been struggling with fraudulent trainers for a long time.  Jesse says, “I often hear from clients who decided to go with another trainer who could offer a 30 hour course in as little as 7 hours, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these crooks started selling OSHA cards with no training at all.”  OSHA has created an “Outreach Trainer Watch List” to help notify the public of fraudulent trainers.

So, apart from the accountability of individuals, is there anything about online OSHA training that should provide real cause for alarm?  Dustin Marshman, Co-owner of Easy Safety School (http://www.easysafetyschool.com/), a national safety training company which offers both online and on-site training, was kind enough to share his thoughts on the matter.  Dustin told us, “Just because a few individuals have found a way to exploit online training, doesn’t mean that it is a bad concept.  The great thing about online training is that it is completely standardized.  Everybody gets the exact same course every time. To me online training represents the future of OSHA training.  It allows for a self-paced, open scheduled, comfortable learning environment which, for many people, actually helps increase attention and retention of invaluable safety information.”  For those out there that doubt the credibility of online training, Dustin says, “Online training programs are reviewed and accepted by OSHA as an appropriate way to maintain safety compliance.  In fact, the process for approving a safety curriculum for online delivery is more stringent than an on-site course.”

 While online training is certainly fit for many people, on-site training also has its advantages.  It allows for a real, hands-on experience.  It allows for individuals to learn, not just from an instructor, but from their fellow employees as well, and it can be tailored to better suit a select group of individuals.  The downside comes in the form of sharing a classroom with potentially distracting strangers, strict scheduling, and higher costs.

For more information, or to enroll in an online or on-site OSHA training course visit - http://www.easysafetyschool.com/