Online or classroom-style safety training?
With computers basically taking over the world, is there still room for classroom-style safety training? More and more companies are moving toward e-learning versions of training, for everything from employee on-boarding, to health and benefits, to safety. But, is that the best way?
Online training has a lot of benefits, including:
- Trainees can take the course anytime, anywhere (flexibility)
- Multiple learning styles can be addressed
- Less intimidating for employees to interact (answer questions on screen and think about safety situations)
- Easy to capture test scores (if applicable)
- Cost-efficient for the company
- Consistency in material covered
- Less time employees are pulled off the job to receive training
While these seem like great reasons for a company to move to computer-based training, there are many reasons offered in support of classroom style training. Such as:
- Employee interaction (group collaboration)
- In-person question and answer
- Hands-on training opportunities
- Constructive team building
- Allows more time to grasp concepts and lessons
- Forces trainees to focus on the training, versus multitasking while taking part in an online session
In a recent article, author Louis Trahan wrote that “The fact of the matter is that many people simply learn better in a classroom setting. Some people thrive on the conversation of a topic with other people,” which is something you cannot necessarily get from online training.
Regardless of which method you choose for your safety training, think about your work environment and employees and based on that decide which method is best for your company.
Posted by got2 love safety