Virtual Instruction With Online Safety Training

Once upon a time, the Internet was considered “the way of the future.” Most people agree that the future has now arrived, and the Internet has changed the way society does business. You’d be hard-pressed to find an American home that doesn’t have at least one computer in it, and as a result, our vast world is smaller than ever before. Businesses and non-profit organizations alike have embraced the computer age and now routinely include a website as part of their business. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the United States is no exception. OSHA is the organization whose mandate it is to write and enforce policy regarding workplace safety and accident/illness prevention. Formed in 1970, OSHA protects nearly every worker in most every sector in the U.S.

Before the computer age, the only way to take an OSHA course was through its training institute, to attend a seminar, or to bring a trainer into ones own workplace. While these types of training still exist, OSHA now offers many of its courses, seminars, and workshops via virtual school online. These web-based courses include its most popular course, the Outreach Training Program (which covers topics applicable to most every industry, such as risk assessment, fire prevention and safety, rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, etc.), first aid training, Department of Transportation driver safety, Hazpower (pollution and environmental clean-up), health care industry safety, and many more.

It should be noted that many of OSHA’s online safety training courses have a field/lab component that cannot be completed online. However, the course will lay the groundwork for the field/lab component, and course participants will still receive a certificate of completion, with the option of completing the field/lab portion of the course at a later time. Additionally, OSHA periodically offers “webinars,” or seminars via its online school which are free of charge and cover topics of interest to employers/employees. It should also be noted that other companies, such as Pure Safety also offer online safety training, offering courses which are similar in nature and in harmony with OSHA’s policies.

If you are an employer, you may be wondering what the advantages would be of taking an online safety course, or sponsoring an employee to take a course. Consider the following benefits of online safety training:

• It’s cost efficient. This may be especially beneficial for smaller businesses that only have one or two employees to train and limited cash to spend. OSHA’s online safety training courses are reasonably priced, and most have a generous time-frame in which the course can be completed. The employer is saved the cost of transporting his employees out of town to attend a course, and no work time is lost.

• It’s easily accessible. Many workers have home computers with which to access online safety training courses, or have access to computers in the workplace. Employers who may have not otherwise been able to afford to send a large group of employees on the road to attend a course can enroll that group of employees in the online course instead.

• Employees receive training that is valuable at home, too. Consider the story of Barbara, an occupational therapist who took the online Adult CPR/AED course. Barbara’s employer felt that she would benefit from having this training, for the sake of both her clients and her co-workers. As it turned out, just a few months after taking the course Barbara was able to perform life-saving CPR on her elderly father after suffering a heart-attack. Barbara couldn’t have been more grateful that her boss had suggested she take the course and sponsored the cost for her.

It is the responsibility of every employer in the U.S. to ensure safeness in the workplace. It’s a big task, one that is made much easier if the employee(s) is empowered to be a part of the solution. Online safety training can provide that empowerment. Employers will feel secure knowing employees have received quality instruction. Whether you’re in the business of defense, construction, sales, or food-service, there’s something for every company when it comes to online safety training.

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