Maximize ROI From Your Training Budget
To get the maximum return for your investment in employee EH&S training, selecting the right training provider is a critical first step. When we pull employees off of their regular responsibilities for training, making that training count is essential.
Regulatory compliance topics can be dull, dry, and difficult to understand. When training on subjects like hazardous materials transportation, hazardous waste management, or workplace safety is presented without energy or enthusiasm, the experience can be downright excruciating.
By making informed decisions about training, EH&S leaders can provide more effective, meaningful learning experiences for employees that drive higher rates of compliance, improve employee engagement, and lower the risk of accidents and injuries.
The Business Case for Better Training
When regulatory compliance training is presented in a clear and engaging way, employees retain more of what they learn and are better prepared to apply that knowledge to their jobs.
Effective training prepares employees to prevent and correct common errors, contribute to a safe work environment, and feel confident about their decisions and actions every day.
Employees who understand their responsibilities for compliance work more efficiently, too. When labeling containers, closing packages, or filling out shipping papers, for example—even small mistakes can cause an accident or necessitate re-packaging and re-shipping. Preparing employees to do a job right the first time is one reason that organizations invest significant time and resources into training.
Effective training improves employees’ job performance and protects the organization from future liability, scrutiny from regulators, and citations that include costly civil penalties.
How to Evaluate EH&S Training
US DOT, US EPA, and OSHA all require various types of training for employees who work with hazardous materials, chemicals, and/or wastes. These agencies also regulate nearly every step of the training process: The topics that must be covered, the timing and frequency of re-training, and (in some cases) even the number of contact hours for the training.
Finding training that will satisfy these regulatory requirements can be a challenge, but is far from the only consideration for managers and supervisors who want to provide the best possible learning experience for employees.
To evaluate training, employers should consider factors like:
- Whether the training content is up to date and relevant.
- The quality of reference materials provided during training.
- Employees’ level of engagement with the topic during training.
- Whether employees feel comfortable asking questions they may have.
- How clearly the training presents complex topics or issues.
- How well employees retain and remember what was covered.
- The level of ongoing support provided after the training.
- Employee’s ability to apply what they learn to specific situations they face at work.
Real Costs of Ineffective Training
Poor training can be a detriment to day-to-day operations in more ways than one. After sitting through boring, unfocused, or irrelevant training, employees may not recognize how the topic relates to their job. Employees may start to view regulatory compliance as a chore instead of a crucial tool for avoiding injuries, preventing emergencies, and protecting your organization’s bottom line.
Outdated or inaccurate training can have significant consequences for an organization, too. This is especially true for environmental and transportation regulations, which undergo constant revision. Often, these rules change in important ways.
For hazardous materials shippers, overlooking changes to the classification criteria for a material, the specifications of a required label, or a tightened quantity limitation can easily result in a rejected shipment, a package being removed from transportation, and/or costly civil penalties.
The maximum civil penalty for a typical hazmat shipping violation is now more than $90,000 per violation, per day. For hazardous waste management errors, the maximum civil penalty recently surpassed $80,000 per violation, per day.
Additionally, being unaware that your facility could be using a new exception or relief can lead to inefficient practices, needless regulatory burdens, and avoidable costs.
What About Online Training?
Self-paced online courses can be a convenient way to provide required training for employees. Online training can allow employees to complete training at their own pace, repeat content if necessary, and fit training in to their everyday responsibilities.
The choice to utilize online training should not mean sacrificing quality. For tips on evaluating online training to make sure it is effective and provides real value for employees, check out this free paper:
4 Must Have Features of Effective e-Learning.
Taking the time to evaluate and compare training options is a crucial first step to maximize the return on your budget. When an ineffective training session ends, leadership may be able to “check the box” that training was performed. But that bare minimum result is hardly worth the time and cost of organizing, funding, and executing the training.
Employees get more value and enjoyment from EH&S training that is presented in an engaging and memorable way. More importantly: By lower the risk of noncompliance, reducing inefficiencies, and improving employee engagement and productivity, high quality training provides value every day, long after the training ends.
Don’t Take Our Word For It…
Course reviews submitted by attendees of Lion's in-person workshops and live webinars cite the instructor, the materials, the presentation style, and the clarity of information as major reasons that they find the training effective and valuable. We know that these factors make a significant difference in the quality of training because the professionals who attend Lion’s workshops and webinars tell us so.
Book Private Instructor-Led Training for 2023
Book private group training for your team to ensure consistent, effective training in 2023. Contact us now and an experienced training coordinator will help you to select the optimal topics, training duration, and format for your employees.
Lion presents hundreds of on-site workshops and private, instructor-led webinars each year. Our 2023 calendar is already filling up fast! Submit this form to get the ball rolling on effective training for your group before the year ends.
Tags: environmental training, hazardous waste training, hazmat training, safety training, Training budget ROI
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