Five New Free Courses

Hi Everyone,

The holidays were quite busy and I achieved my goal of adding five more free OSTN courses. My goal for 2007 is to develop and deliver another ten courses. By the way, you can help me out by suggesting topics. I plan on developing courses for the following topics: confined space, blooborne pathogens (everyone's favorite ;-), lockout/tagout of course, electrical safety, six sigma safety, total quality safety management...and more. All courses are still free!

Course 704: Hazard Analysis and Control Seven modules. Safety directors, safety committee members, supervisors, and managers will gain a greater ability to identify the various categories of hazards in their workplace, and apply strategies used to make sure hazards are eliminated or reduced. Emphasis is placed on applying the "hierarchy of controls" strategies to eliminate hazards.

Course 706: Conducting a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) Six modules. This course is designed to introduce you to the steps in conducting a Job Hazard Analysis (also called Job Safety Analysis) for the purpose or writing a safe job procedure. Included is a discussion of conducting a risk assessment, prioritizing jobs, writing the steps, determining hazards, including safety precautions, and tips on writing a safe job procedures. If your company is working towards OSHA's SHARP or VPP certification, you need to be conducting JHAs on all hazardous tasks.

Course 707: Effective Safety Committee Meetings Seven modules. If your company has a safety committee, it's critical that meetings are conducted in an efficient and effective manner. This course covers the safety committee meeting process including a review of the role and purpose of the safety committee, preparing and conducting the meeting, success tools, handling conflict, and activities after the meeting. Emphasis is on discussing techniques and tools you can use to conduct an interesting meeting filled with motivated members!

Course 709: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Seven modules. It's tough for any company to develop a safe and health workplace without an effective PPE program. This course provides information on using personal protective equipment to effectively protect the worker from exposure to workplace hazards. Program management, hazard assessment, and training requirements are also discussed.

Course 711: Introduction to Ergonomics Five modules. This course introduces the student to the basic principles of ergonomics in the workplace. Risk factor identification, basic workstation design options, and hazard control strategies to eliminate or reduce those risk factors will be the primary focus of the course. Take this course prior to taking Course 722, Ergonomics Program Management.

Training Tips for the Trainer

Use the KISS rule (Keep it Simple, Stupid). Tailor training, so that everyone can grasp what it is you're trying to say.
Be prepared. Know your subject by reading, talking to subject matter experts, or have documentation available so that you can answer questions intelligently. (Orders, Regulations, Articles, etc)
Be enthusiastic! Put some feeling into it. If you feel it, they will learn it.
Schedule training in the morning when people are most alert.
Make sure you know how to use any video equipment or that someone else is available to do so.
Assemble any equipment-audiovisuals, samples of PPE, handouts, etc.-in advance.
Rehearse your training. Tape record the training then listen to yourself objectively. Determine how long the training will last and try to stick to that timeframe.
Have an outline to refer to so that you cover everything. (Index cards, speaker notes, hand-outs)
Focus the training on participants' jobs; make sure it relates to the work they do.
If the training is meant to introduce new equipment in the shop hold the training on the shop floor.
Encourage hands-on participation. Bring samples of the PPE, MSDS, Warning labels, etc.
Testing your audience at the beginning of the class is a good way to see how much they know, then you know what areas need more emphasis. If time is limited, asking questions aloud and asking for a show of hands is a good way to test individuals.
Test your audience after each class to see what they have learned. The test may be in the form of a written quiz or asking individuals to show you what they've learned.

Prepare Yourself:

Call two days before the training to confirm the site reservation.
Confirm the number of employees who plan to attend the day before and make the appropriate number of copies of handouts, tests, or other material needed for the class. Make a few extra copies.
Send or Post a reminder the day before, telling employees where and when the training will be held.
Practice your presentation the night before. Rehearse the sequence. Research and know your topic.
Report to the training site an hour before-if audiovisual, overhead, or computer equipment is being used. A half an hour before-if no equipment is being used.
Setup and test all equipment before you begin the training. Que the VCR tape. Have the screen down for overheads or movies. Test your slide show.
Establish a desk area for training materials. Be comfortable with the arrangement of your resources.
Pass out an outline of the events or topics. Stick to the sequence. Don't read from the text. Use index cards, speaker notes or an outline.
Keep eye contact with all of your audience.
Get feedback from your audience. Pass out critique sheets.

Be sure to visit OSHAcademy Safety Training Network. We're always adding new information and training helps. Be sure to click on the sponsored links to keep the training free!

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