High quality e-courses provide a convenient, low-cost option for employee awareness training – any time, anywhere there’s a computer. Given Workplace Safety & Prevention Services’ 50+ course list, your options are extensive.

Why e-courses

Using a computer with Internet access, workers learn at their own pace at a time that suits their own and their workplace’s schedules. As well, e-courses

• offer significant cost savings by eliminating travel expenses and reducing a need for employees to be away from work for extended periods of time
• allow employers to train workers at multiple locations, using consistent content
• contribute to faster learning. Content is delivered in small, manageable units. Individuals can skim material they know, and spend more time on material new to them.

Why our e-courses

By partnering with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), our courses are developed by subject specialists and reviewed by representatives from labour, employers and government, ensuring balance and lack of bias. In addition, the courses

• are fully current with Ministry of Labour requirements
• contain links to a pan-Canadian legislation database and, where appropriate, to standards developed by the Canadian Standards Association
• include content for provincial and national workplaces, useful for operations having locations in more than one jurisdiction. Furthermore, most courses are available in English and French
• offer links to additional resources. Complement your web-based training with WSPS’s industry-specific health and safety products, publications, consulting services and classroom training
• enable learners to ask questions of CCOHS’s Inquiries Service, and receive a written response
• can be implemented in blended fashion – mixing the e-experience with face-to-face interactions in group or individual sessions to reinforce concepts and link the learning to a specific workplace.

Here’s a sampling of the 50+ e-courses available:

• Health and Safety Training for Managers and Supervisors*
• Orienting New Employees to Health and Safety
• WHMIS (supervisors, workers, refresher, offices)*
• Musculoskeletal Disorders (lifting, carrying, working in awkward positions)
• Preventing Falls from Slips and Trips*
• Dealing with Difficult or Hostile Customers
• Dealing with Robbery and Hostage Situations
• Contractor Safety*
•  Emergency Preparedness
•  Legal Requirements (Federal)

* Specifically adapted to Ontario workplaces

Try a complimentary e-course

In our ongoing efforts to educate people about workplace health and safety, WSPS offers the following e-courses at no charge:

• Business Case for Health and Safety
• Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs): Awareness
• Pandemic Awareness
• Violence in the Workplace: Awareness
• WHMIS after Global Harmonization System: An Introduction
• WHMIS after Global Harmonization System: How Suppliers Can Prepare

E-courses: a unique solution, just not the only solution

A recent literature review comparing online and face-to-face instruction shows that a combination of both online and face-to-face instruction appears to be more effective than either learning method on its own. ¹

The review, conducted the U.S. Center for Technology in Learning on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, started with a possible 1,132 research abstracts. The study researchers narrowed this list down to 46. Most of this research was published in 2004 or more recently.

The researchers found that combining online and classroom instruction is more effective than just one or the other. Online learning by itself, the researchers found, “appears to offer a modest advantage over conventional classroom instruction.” However, the review is careful to note that online learning is not automatically superior to classroom learning. This qualifier stems from the finding that, “in many of the studies showing an advantage for online learning, the online and classroom conditions differed in terms of time spent, curriculum and pedagogy.” In other words, the studies analyzed by the researchers weren’t always comparing apples to apples.

The results come as no surprise to Pennyjane (Pj) Murray, WSPS’s manager, organizational development & performance. “Many of our member firms are using some form of blended learning format, such as e-learning, in-class training (in public or on a client’s site), and conferences and workshops to make sure they strike a balance between training goals and the expertise required to achieve them.”

Figuring out what’s best for you

Before undertaking training, or making changes to existing training, conduct a needs assessment. As part of the assessment process,

• ask yourself exactly what you are trying to achieve with this training initiative. What do you want to be able to see the employee doing, or not doing, as a result of this training? Identifying the precise goal is your best guarantee of getting what you pay for — positive, sustainable changes in behaviour and attitude
• focus the assessment on “need to know” rather than “nice to know.” By all means consider future training needs, but figure out what training must take place now, and what can be scheduled later
• explore other training issues that may affect the outcome of your needs assessment. Examples include:
  • how people learn. “For instance,” says Murray, “workplace diversity issues — language, culture, physical, mental, emotional and generational — may affect how people learn, and the methods or tools used to learn”
  • learners’ exposure to technology. “There could be different levels of understanding and exposure among employees”
  • learners’ access to technology. For example, does the workplace have the equipment and an appropriate setting for e-learning?

Addressing these issues while assessing training needs can help determine both the scope of any identified performance gap and the “best fit” method of addressing it.

After conducting a needs assessment, explore delivery models. What type of training will most directly meet the needs of your workplace? Ask yourself these questions:

• are the learners new workers, existing, or a mix of both
• how many learners require training now and in future
• what job tasks require hands-on practice
• how frequently will learners perform the task(s)
• do they need to perform the task from memory or should they look it up

As you go through this exercise, you’ll see there are many options available. The beauty of having so many options: you can choose more than one.

How we can help