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On the job safety reduces injury on the job, improves quality of the work environment and reduces costs. In the event that safety is not voluntarily adhered to, the United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandates and audits safety training requirements for corporations. With the addition of new staff, or with the expiration of safety certifications, safety training is ongoing. Online instruction is a very convenient way to offer easy access to training, as well as manage the safety training data of staff.
- Many safety courses and refresher updates are available through online education. Many providers offer OSHA and corporation approved training to meet the growing need for training. The most common online training utilized focus on blood borne pathogens, violence, hazardous materials, back safety, electrical safety, first aid, CPR, among other topics.
- Some effective online safety training courses offer student interactive opportunities. With the proliferation of training available online, students have the option of choosing online courses that offer video, question and answer, mouse over controls, immediate feedback quizzes and so on, to enhance the learning and retention of materials taught.
- Safety training is often industry specific and some online courses take a wider and more general approach to the subject matter, so as to include a bigger audience. Job or industry specific safety risks cannot be effectively handled by online training, unless that course was specifically designed for that group. Some courses are definitely better learned hands-on, such as CPR and first aid. In fact, some inspectors from auditing firms will not accept first-time trainings for these courses from online options, but refresher updates may be approved for the online format. For example, no matter how interactive an online CPR course may be, there is no effective substitute for the hands-on lesson of actually doing compressions on a CPR mannequin.
- In addition to conducting safety training online, online training should be done safely. Password access, firewalls, privacy when testing and testing integrity must be considered for the online training environment. Many jobs require documentary proof that safety training is up-to-date and online access to data management of staff training and their personal data must be kept in a secure manner.
