December 2011 Newsletter | Read Current Issue »
Thinking Out of the Box to Make your Training Effective

In this competitive business climate it is important to keep informed on the latest buzz in industry. At Health Science Associates we want to stay ahead of the pack, constantly expanding and honing our skills. As a client or associate, we want you with us, a step ahead of the rest. If there is a topic you're interested in, let us know and we can make that our next newsletter!

Was Gilligan's lack of training the root cause of the shipwreck on Gilligan's Island? Did Dorothy land in Oz because she did not follow a Standard Operating Procedure? Why did Alice approach the rabbit hole without fall protection? Have you thought about starting your training by attacking these big questions? A captive audience is not necessarily an attentive audience. Mandatory training can be a waste of time if the audience is not engaged. The question to ask yourself is why is the audience disengaged? Chances are, they are hearing the same subject matter, delivered by the same person or video, in the same room for the tenth time. It is our job to make that training come alive.

The CDC has been releasing some topical material designed to engage the audience by taking a fresh look at a subject. The CDC Office of Preparedness and Response has released a graphic novella on disaster preparedness, Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic. They also have T-shirts you can purchase with the logo on them. The CDC public health blog has a Top 7 Disaster Song Countdown blog. That one is sure to start a debate.

Do these new tactics work? NIOSH has done a study on the effectiveness of training, A systematic review of the effectiveness of training & education for the protection of workers. They concluded that more research needs to be done to show what level of class interaction or participation is most effective. They do point out that adult learners need higher participation and control in setting the goals and direction of their training due to their life experience. NOSH's training effectiveness research on Tool Box Talks or Tail Gate Meetings showed that training that utilized Case Studies increased the engagement of the participants. Participants felt that the talks were more applicable to their situation, that the talks were tailored to their need and effective in helping them work safely.

There is a lot of time and money invested in training our employees to work safely. Engaging the people in your class, inspiring discussion, sharing and inspiring thoughts will get them to own their safety experience. By taking some extra time, reviewing your material, adding activities and case studies, purchasing an updated video, you can get a higher return on your investment. You will have really done your job if the students are still discussing your case study over lunch, or when they get home. We hope we were able to provide some food for thought for you today, a little different angle on the training process and some good links for additional information to help you start planning your next meeting.

Staff News:

We are proud to announce that at the California Industrial Hygiene Council (CIHC) Annual Conference, our founder and President Howard Spielman was not only awarded the Lifetime Membership Award by the CIHC Board, but was also presented with a plaque commemorating a Resolution by the California State Senate on December 5th 2011, commending him on the leadership he has provided to the CIHC and his record of achievements in professional and civic leadership. What an amazing honor. In 1992, Howard had recieved a similiar honor from the State Assembly. Please join us in congratulating him on this high honor.

To top it off, Howard was quoted in the December 16th issue of the CAL/OSHA Reporter discussing the value of the Health Expert Advisory Committee (HEAC) in the PEL setting process. Howard is a member of that committee. See Volume 38 Number 38 for the full article.

Health Science Associates was nominated in the Twelfth Annual Family Owned Business Awards presented by the Orange County Business Journal. We were pleased to be included in such an amazing group of family owned businesses.

Training News

HSA is proud to continue to host classes in our Orange county training facility offered by the Continuing Education and Outreach Office of the Southern California NIOSH Education and Research Center at UCLA. We are excited about offering the Health and Safety community an Orange county location for these valuable courses given by the ERC's highly qualified staff. In January, we will have the three day CHMM/CHMP (Certified Hazardous Materials Manager/Certified Hazardous Materials Practitioner) course at our location and in March we will be hosting the Comprehensive Industrial Hygiene Review. For more information see the training page on our website or go directly to the COEH website to register.

We will also be offering a new Radiation Safety Course in March, more details will follow at a later date. For more information, e-mail us at training@healthscience.com.

We will be offering our AIHA reviewed NIOSH 582 course in the end of January, for details check our training calendar, the link is below.

We continue to provide a variety of training courses for the professionals in California, watch for our new Hazwoper Refresher course offering.

• Health Science Associates Training Calendar