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Choosing The Right Training Provider |
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In today’s busy world, the choices we face on a daily basis can be overwhelming. The last thing we want to do is make an uninformed decision, especially when dealing our own safety or a co-worker’s safety. So when it comes to providing safety training for your company, how do you pick one training provider over another? Here’s some key points to consider when it’s time to schedule training. To begin with, make sure understand why training is needed. What responsibilities do your employees or co-workers have with regard to hazardous substances. OSHA’s HAZWOPER Standard (Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 1910.120) establishes three (3) general categories of workers that are subject to the standard. The first worker category is for hazardous waste investigation and cleanup activities. This would include government agency staff, consultants and cleanup companies involved in the investigation, characterization and remediation of hazardous waste sites. Workers in this category are typically required to receive 40 hours of initial instruction, followed by 24 hours of on the job training. In some cases only 24 hours of initial training (and one day of on the job training) is required if the worker in performing limited tasks or their work area will involve limited contamination. The second category of worker subject to the HAZWOPER standard would be someone working at a permitted hazardous waste treatment, storage or disposal facility. In general, the initial training for those workers would include a minimum of 24 hours of instruction. The third type of worker addressed by the HAZWOPER standard are those that perform emergency response functions for hazardous substances releases. These workers can be trained initially to the Awareness, Operations or Technician levels, depending on their responsibilities. All worker categories are required to receive annual refresher training. For the hazardous waste site workers, annual training must total eight hours. Emergency responders, on the other hand, are not subject to a designated duration of refresher training, but must demonstrate their competency in accordance with their responsibilities. To be certain about the exact requirements, take a close look at the HAZWOPER standard. Check the references at the end of this article for the correct paragraph for each worker category. Students now have the choice of completing all or a portion of their HAZWOPER training through on-line participation via the internet. While this offers great convenience to the student, the effectiveness of on-line training is questionable, particularly for an initial HAZWOPER class. In many cases, the cost of on-line training is comparable to live training programs. Obviously, the quality of instruction would be is less than that of a training program involving partial or full direct-contact time between students and an instructor. The advantage of live classroom instruction is the instructors can evaluate the comprehension of the students and adjust the course content or the method of instruction to help the student understand the subject matter. Does the course agenda reflect the use of varied teaching methods? There should be a combination of visual presentation supported with written materials, followed by the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge. Computer slide presentations present great visual images, but there needs to be supporting materials that the student can refer to outside of class. The supporting material should include a bibliography to demonstrate the validity of the information presented. Finally, the training program should provide for those students who learn by doing, through the use of worksheets, tabletop exercises, and practical exerc ises. The use of pre-tests at the beginning of a class is a (good) sign that the instructors are evaluating the knowledge base of the students and will adjust their deliveries to ensure the students will understand the material presented. All programs should conclude with a quiz or test, to demonstrate that the student (and instructor) met the objectives of the course. Another issue to consider is the course content. Content is closely related to the purpose of the training. First, look for a provider who is familiar with your type of business and has provided training to similar businesses. Does their website provide specific information regarding consistency with industry standards? Does their website provide a class agenda? Has the provider purchased an off-the-shelf training program, or do they develop their own programs? Appendix E of the HAZWOPER standard establishes generic recommendations for training programs and is a good place to start if you’re looking for information on training content. Training for municipal fire departments and other fire service organizations should be consistent with the National Fire Protection Association Standard 472; Standard for Professional Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials Incidents. At a minimum, any HAZWOPER training program must include the elements listed at 29 CFR 1910.120(e)(2). The quality of the instructors is key to the success of any training provider. Does the training staff have instructional credentials? Do they have experience to match? Anyone can attend a train-the-trainer class and then start presenting classes, but without the experience, they lack credibility. Even trainers that have experience in the field may not understand how to present information on a subject in a meaningful way. They may spend their time telling war stories, which can be entertaining, but this can leave a significant gap in the student’s knowledge. Are the trainers certified by an organization relevant to their field of work? Maintaining memberships in professional organizations ensures that members are up-to-date on subject matter. How many of the trainers hold degrees from reputable academic institutions? How do the instructors maintain their professional competency? Professional trainers should receive training on related subject material at least yearly. While the much of the basic science used in HAZWOPER and related training doesn’t change very often, mitigation techniques, personal protective equipment and air monitoring technology changes frequently, so instructors should make sure they are presenting current information. Experience with hazardous materials response is very important to relating the subject matter in HAZWOPER training in an effective manner. Trainers should have sufficient experience with various topics in order to explain them in a meaningful way to students. Ideally, trainers should continue to practice their craft in order to stay current with techniques and technology. At some point, you need to balance cost and quality and decide on whether you want to simply comply with the minimum training requirements or provide employees a quality training program, giving them the knowledge and confidence of to safely perform their jobs. Without spending a huge amount of time flipping back and forth among websites, here’s some good characteristics of an effective training program. Good training programs should provide sufficient equipment, materials, and activities so all students get enough opportunities to become familiar with the various skills and equipment. There should be enough personal protective equipment, monitoring instruments and reference materials for all students to work with each item. Likewise, the student-teach ratio should be appropriate to the class activities. Are classes presented at the provider’s facility or does the training provider present classes at the customer’s location. Some training organizations have their own training site, with classroom space and specialized training features, such as confined spaces, tanker trucks and even rail cars! These facilities can allow for some very specialized training programs, but they may be costly, as well. Of course, travel expenses will add to your costs, but the provider can advertise a lower price for the class (although they have to cover the cost of the facility in the class fee).
General A competent training provider should provide a cost proposal describing the content and objectives of the training, along with a clearly established price. As with any well-managed business, the training provider should have general and professional liability insurance, along with workman’s compensation insurance. If training is to be conducted on your property, ask for a copy of the provider’s insurance certificate. If you still can’t decide, you can always ask other businesses in your industry sector for recommendations. |