Course Development
Throughout the rest of this module, we will discuss the various principles and best practices of developing safety instruction and hands-on training. For a more complete discussion, see OSHAcademy courses 721 Developing OSH Training and 723 Conducting OSH Training.
Is Training the Answer?
The first step in the safety training development process is a basic one; ask questions to determine if training can solve a problem. Whenever employees do not perform their jobs safely, we might assume training will bring them up to standard. However, training may not actually be the solution.
Let's say supervisors in the maintenance department come to you and complain that their employees are not using safe work procedures. Your first assumption might be that they need training. Don't just roll over and agree with that assumption. It is possible that the supervisors may need to accomplish one or more of the following non-training strategies to help make sure their employees use safe procedures:
- use engineering controls to correct existing hazards;
- provide adequate resources to work safely; or
- adequately enforce safety rules.
Who knows, maybe the supervisors, themselves, need the training! Let's not always assume employee safety training is the solution for unsafe behavior.
Check out the online decision-tree checklist exercise at the end of this module to ask the right questions if someone requests safety training. You can download a similar checklist (pdf) to help you determine if training is the answer to a performance problem.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
2-4. What is the first step in the safety training development process?
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