Arrival at clients’ premises often involves an induction process. The Orchid team has experienced many safety inductions, some paper-based and others online. Our director, Keith Glanville, outlines what was involved with two visits, one involving eLearning and the other using a paper-based approach.
We thought we’d share Keith’s experience, as these first-hand stories illustrate the impact of eLearning, or CBT, upon people and processes.
Scenario 1
Keith visited a large site where waste material was processed. He needed to update some operating procedures and be able to walk around the site unaccompanied.
On arrival, and already wearing PPE, Keith was shown to a portable cabin where he was asked to wait until the person conducting safety inductions arrived. After half an hour, they arrived with an old binder containing plastic wallets and some Question and Answer papers.
Keith says: “I was taken through the faded content of several slightly soiled and dog-eared plastic wallets, containing training sheets on PPE, fire alarms, assembly areas and more topics. After reading the content, I was asked to complete a Question and Answer sheet. It was a multi-choice sheet and took ten minutes to finish. Half an hour later, the safety induction person reappeared. He graded my paper – I passed! I was asked to sign the conditions on the form and issued with my site pass. My form was dropped into an overflowing basket on the desk.”
Whilst this induction process achieved the overall objective, it was cumbersome and time consuming.
Scenario 2
Keith visited a large manufacturing site to obtain machine maintenance information. Before the visit, he received a link to their online induction system. Creating his account took just a few minutes. The next step was to complete the training.
“The online training involved well-presented informational screens,“ explains Keith. “Scenarios followed each section using videos and animations. I was asked to confirm what action would be the best in each situation. As I answered the questions, the system offered advice on what would have been the recommended action. I could leave the training and return to it later. The software recorded my position, so I carried on from where I’d left off.”
After completing the training, Keith completed an interactive test. On reaching the pass requirement, he received a certificate via email. This was presented at the start of the site visit. He was invited to refresh his training as necessary.
This induction process offered flexibility and convenience alongside automated assessment recording.
Summary
Both scenarios reflect a real experience. Each approach achieved the overall objective of completing a safety induction for a site visit. However, the second experience offered distinct advantages:
- The online training was consistent, informative and engaging.
- Keith could complete the training in his own time before arriving on site.
- No extra time was needed upon arrival – from Keith or a company employee.
- The eLearning system maintained a record of the training for future use.
- The eLearning system had the facility to be revisited.
- Email reminders could be issued when necessary.
Orchid can help ensure your safety inductions have flexibility, consistency and engagement by creating a well-presented eLearning solution. This is also known as Computer Based Training (CBT) and offers scalability and compliance benefits (read more).
To discuss how eLearning can optimise your organisation’s induction and training processes, contact the friendly experts at Orchid without obligation.
