Management

The Advantage of Training for Value

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The Advantage of Training for Value

Online safety training allows employee participation in the learning process for better retention and results.

By Ron McHaney

Web-based training can combine narration, graphics, text, discussion, and participation for better retention of information, which can result in improved performance.

As a communication tool, the Internet has gained worldwide acceptance that seems to grow daily. On July 11, 2003, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) distributed Program Information Bulletin No. P03-17 covering the Electronic Filing of Certain Submissions. This bulletin alerted the industry that MSHA now accepts a number of reports, applications, and notices by way of email. MSHA says that online filing is optional, but there are many advantages to this method. Among those advantages are paperwork reductions, reduced mailing costs, and a superior method for tracking submissions.
Could there be the same advantages for web-based safety training? Actually there are even more advantages for online training and those that are first to accept the concept are likely to gain a competitive advantage.

Time for a Process Check
Does your organization train for value or just compliance? Training only for compliance wastes resources and provides a competitive advantage to your competitors. The goal of this training process is to comply with the regulatory requirements and get a record on file that the training has been completed.
As an example of how this may work, when an operator in the Midwest was asked what he intended to do for the eight hour annual refresher training requirement, he replied, “Everyone is going to take the day off and go to the hall to eat chili and watch videos just like they have been doing for the past 10 years.” Most of his employees said they thought the training was a waste of time, but the food was good and so was the chance to socialize. At the end of the day, each employee is issued an annual refresher training certificate satisfying the training requirement.
This can be referred to as the prison approach to training. The inmates put in their time, the organization supports them, nothing changes, and then they are released. Resources are obviously wasted when training is just done for compliance.
On the other hand, an organization that trains for value starts the training process with a needs analysis. This may be as simple as asking two questions: “What performance must improve?” And the follow-up question, “Who needs what training to cause that performance to improve?” The who is the target audience. The what is the new skill and knowledge necessary for driving change and improving performance.
This is an over simplification of a needs analysis, but it is a factor to consider for those who want to create value and develop a competitive advantage. The goal of this training process is to improve performance. Regulatory compliance becomes a side benefit.
To be effective, safety training must have a purpose and that purpose must be closely related to reducing risk and preventing incidents. This is done by improving knowledge or skills and getting more predictable movement of people, equipment, material, and energy.
Think about that for a moment. If the purpose of safety training is satisfied consistently, value is generated for the organization that translates into lower Workers’ Compensation costs, less equipment and property damage, fewer interruptions to production, and overall fewer surprises. These are the results of an effective safety-training process. If done over time it creates a huge competitive advantage.

Consider audience capability
Remember, the target audience is the group of people that need the training to generate the performance improvements. The lesson material must fit the learning capability of the target audience to be effective. If it is too simple, the audience will become bored. If it is too complicated, the audience will become frustrated. Would a bible study lesson be the same for a group of fourth graders as it is for theology students? Of course not. The same concept applies to training miners.
There are about 550,000 Americans in the mining industry. About 27 percent of them have at least one college degree. This means that about 73 percent of American miners do not have a college degree. Education for this group ranges from zero to some college.
How important is educational attainment anyway? In reality, it is not that relevant. There is a phenomenon called “social promotions.” That is where students put in the time but do not acquire the skill or knowledge to be promoted to the next grade. They graduate without the basic skills and move on into industry.
There are 35 million adults in America who are functionally illiterate. This means that they can’t fill out an employment application or follow simple written instructions. Add another 10 million to this group who can’t read at the 8th grade level. In addition, there are another 27 million who can’t read technical reports or news magazines. That adds up to 72 million people and includes much of our target audience.
Since so many American workers cannot read or comprehend at a high level, special attention must be paid to the development of training materials. If the expectation is to teach new skills or expand knowledge, then the material must be presented in a format that does the job.

How adults learn
Lecture by itself is usually an ineffective learning method. It is believed that adults only remember about 10 percent of what they hear. That percentage jumps to about 50 percent when adults listen and are able to observe. Comprehension jumps even further when they listen, observe, discuss, and participate. This range is believed to be closer to 90 percent.
The critical factor seems to be to cause adults to do something during the training process. Apparently, adults learn much better when they participate in the learning process rather than just sitting and listening.
At 10 percent retention, traditional training formats — lectures — are ineffective, as well as expensive. They are especially ineffective for those who are physically active in their work. Safety videos have potential to move retention to 50 percent because, in theory, they require listening and observing. However, does the target audience really listen and observe during a safety video presentation?
Try this exercise. The next time a safety training video is shown to a group, stand in the back of the room for half the video and watch the heads as they begin to nod. About half way through the presentation, slowly and quietly move to the front of the room and observe those who are resting their eyes. Watching and listening only has a retention value of 50 percent if the target audience is actually watching and listening.

Web-based training
Web-based training has the potential to use adult learning techniques by combining narration, graphics, text, discussion, and participation. The potential for this format is much closer to the 90 percent retention range than traditional training formats. There are numerous advantages. A professional with outstanding voice characteristics may deliver the narration. Training administrators may be excused from scheduling, renting classrooms, planning meals, transporting audio visual equipment, manually creating records, and all the other tasks associated with conventional training. Instead, they may focus on the more important functions of a training administrator, such as performing needs analyses and managing the training process.
Table 1 compares the value of two training models. The web-based training format has the potential to deliver superior safety training. It overcomes barriers to success. It uses methods that are most beneficial to adult learners (listen, observe, discuss, and participate). It delivers consistent training across the enterprise. It is cost effective because it eliminates many of the hidden costs of training.
American employers spend more than $62 billion every year to train their employees. A competitive advantage in this area has huge potential. Employees will be better prepared to perform their jobs safely and more financial resources will become available to purchase other competitive advantages.

Table 1: Advantage of online safety training
ACTIVITY	TRADITIONAL MODEL	WEB-BASED MODEL
Scheduling	Conflicts getting the group together and then rescheduling the no-shows	Only the trainee need be scheduled.
Training	Moves at prescribed pace and has no consideration for fast or slow learners Delivery variable by instructor and how instructor feels on training day	Self-directed; trainee may work according to individual ability Material and delivery are consistent throughout the enterprise.
Venue	Scheduled classroom	Anywhere; anytime
Outside instructors	Students’/instructors’ schedules must match	Not required
Travel costs for instructors	Estimated to be 40 to 60 percent and students	Eliminates travel costs of annual training budget
Maintaining or renting classroom	Estimated to be 7 percent of annual training budget	Eliminates this cost
Lost productivity	Site must be shut down	Site does not have to be shut down
Managers and supervisors	May have to become the classroom trainers	Can do what they do best — manage and supervise
Recordkeeping	Manual input into one or many databases or hard copy records. Difficult to manage and point-in-time status is labor intensive.	Automated input into a centralized enterprise system. Easy to manage and point-in-time status is immediate.

Ron McHaney is president, McHaney & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in safety training. A Certified Safety Professional with more than 36 years safety experience, he is a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers, National Safety Council, and Board of Certified Safety Professionals.

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News Across the Nation

Compiled by Angie Moehlman

Aggregate issues

Washington—The Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials developed an Internet clearinghouse and electronic library for highway construction specifications for all 50 states — www.specs.fhwa.dot.gov.

Reston, Va.—Production of crushed stone in the United States decreased 3.2 percent in the second quarter of 2003 compared to the second quarter of 2002, according to the USGS. Construction sand and gravel production decreased less than 1 percent in the same period. For the first six months of 2003, U.S. crushed stone production is down 4 percent and sand and gravel production is down 1.2 percent.

Arlington, Va.—A high number of injuries in the aggregates industry occur during maintenance, repair, and construction activity with crushers, conveyors, and front-end loaders, reports the Mine Safety and Health Administration/National Stone, Sand & Gravel Alliance team. The team analyzed 12,147 injuries, which included 67 fatalities and 129 permanent total or partial disabilities.

Permitting Scoreboard

Coopers Plains, N.Y.—Dalrymple Gravel and Contracting Co. sued the town of Erwin, N.Y. to overturn a nine-month mining moratorium, according to the Star-Gazette. Dalrymple is receiving a permit from the Department of Environmental Conservation but must also obtain approval from the Erwin Planning Board.

Louisville, Ky.—The Bullitt County Joint Planning Commission voted 5-2 to grant Matsuda LLC a zoning change that would allow it to expand a 55-acre quarry to about 200 acres, according to The Courier-Journal. The Hillview, Ky., city council has the final say on the change, however, and area residents vowed to continue fighting the expansion plan.

Donegal, Pa.—The Mountain Watershed Association is concerned that if New Enterprise Stone and Lime obtains a quarry permit, the water quality and flow in a trout stream will be negatively affected, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. New Enterprise has been pursuing a permit for five years to open a quarry in Westmoreland County near the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The company has twice revised its water-handling plans and currently plans to use settling ponds and injection wells to meet no-discharge requirements.

Jefferson City, Mo.—Missouri’s Land Reclamation Commission approved Holcim’s permit to mine limestone on 1,600 acres next to its proposed cement plant south of St. Louis on the Mississippi River, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Four environmental groups, however, filed suit in federal court to block construction of the cement plant.

Brentwood, Tenn.—The state Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Hoover, Inc. of city officials’ denial of permission to open a quarry to replace an operation condemned when the Nashville airport expanded, according to The Tennessean. The company’s legal case began in 1992.

State Funding Status
Atlanta—Guaranteed revenue bonds will provide $324 million for road improvement projects in rural areas of Georgia under the Governor’s Road Improvement Program, according to The Bond Buyer. Georgia will appropriate $2.15 billion in fiscal year 2004 for all transportation projects. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that $64 million will be spent to widen or upgrade more than 30 roads in 11 metro Atlanta counties.

Raleigh, N.C.—Over the next two years, North Carolina plans to spend $630 million on about 900 maintenance and safety projects throughout the state, including road resurfacing and shoulder paving, according to The News and Observer. The state expects to award about $100 million in projects by the end of 2003 and another $170 million by March 2004.

Arlington, Texas—The Regional Transportation Council endorsed contributing $50 million toward a $1.7 billion planned project to rebuild the LBJ Freeway in Dallas, reports The Dallas Morning News. Construction on the project, which will add six lanes underground, is expected to begin in 2006 or 2007.

Annapolis, Md.—Highway planners expect tolls to pay for about a third of the construction costs for an east-west highway in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, according to The Washington Post. The planned $1.7 billion project comprises a six-lane, 18-mile highway connecting I-270 and I-95 north of the Capital Beltway. Construction could begin in 2006.

Austin, Texas—The Texas Metropolitan Mobility Plan encourages the state’s eight largest urban areas to issue bonds, add tolls, and levy local gas taxes to pay for transportation projects, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Under the plan, the Texas Transportation Commission would give federal and state highway funds to each metropolitan region, but the funds would only cover about a third of needs.

Providence, R.I.—Rhode Island may rely more on GARVEE bonds to speed up transportation projects, reports the Providence Journal-Bulletin. The Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle allows states to borrow money now and use future federal aid to pay it back. The state legislature approved the GARVEE plan earlier this year. Opponents say the borrowing will lead to future tax increases.

Lancaster, Calif.—The Metropolitan Transportation Authority restored to its short-range plan a $31.9 million project to add car-pool lanes to a section of the Antelope Valley Freeway, according to the Daily News. The MTA still has to find funds, but design work for the lanes is almost complete.