After an overwhelming request from industry to provide a new alternative to required Process Safety Management (PSM) compliance training that is highly effective, engaging and with flexible delivery options, the Health and Safety Council (HASC) worked with subject matter experts (SMEs) in the fields of safety, adult learning and instructional design to develop Safety Essentials.
As a 501(c)3 nonprofit association with almost 35 years of experience as a proven leader in employee onboarding, training and occupational health services, HASC utilized best practices and SMEs while leveraging the latest technology to bring a revolutionary new approach to contractor safety orientation.
What is Safety Essentials?
Safety Essentials is an entirely online eLearning (computer-based training) program available at a network of partner safety council locations nationwide and through LINK™ Live Online Proctoring (LOP). Safety Essentials is accepted at a growing number of reciprocal owner/operator facilities throughout the country. The program has been widely accepted due to its accessibility and fresh perspective on safe work practices, processes and procedures, offering a new way for learners to relate to safety training.
The initial three-hour course is part of a The Safety Essentials Suite, a broader program with courses including Safety Essentials in Spanish (release date January 1, 2023); Safety Essentials Enhancer (refresher) in English (release date February 1, 2023) with the Spanish version coming soon; and Safety Essentials Elements, a curriculum library of reciprocal general safety courses. Unique to The Safety Essentials Suite, the Safety Essentials Enhancer will be updated each year, incorporating new topics such as understanding and mitigating risk on the job site. The fresh perspective each year will provide a refresher on the most relevant topics to improve learner engagement with credential renewal.
Safety Essentials provides a standardized, buildable approach to OSHA's PSM compliance training requirements, ensuring workers across the nation have access to the same high-quality training. This allows both employers and worksites to have confidence in the knowledge of individuals on-site, regardless of where or how they received their contractor orientation. This program also reduces redundant training, which results in decreased training costs and a higher comprehension of key concepts.
Developed by industry, for industry
Safety Essentials is designed specifically for contract workers in the refining and petrochemical industry to comply with the OSHA 1910 general industry regulation with consideration into OSHA 1926, and is compliant with both chapters of the Code of Federal Regulations. When creating Safety Essentials, HASC established an industry advisory group comprised of safety professionals representing various aspects of industry, including contractor and owner/operator companies, to ensure course curriculum and objectives were most relevant. Feedback from this group was incorporated throughout the course development.
Additionally, much research was considered when developing Safety Essentials and its approach to education. Analogical scaffolding is the concept of taking a familiar concept and expanding on it to help learners comprehend complex processes. This method has a proven history within constructivist learning theory as it builds on information the learner already understands. The learner has the opportunity to use real-world experience to heighten understanding.
Industry’s new innovative method to reciprocal safety orientation
Safety Essentials was also developed using the R4 Learner Retention Model as a content framework. Utilizing adult learning theories and principles, the R4 Learner Retention Model uses Rigor, Relevancy, Reinforcement and Reflection to ensure individuals not only receive but retain critical safety information while performing work.
Working with safety experts and leading professionals in interactive design ensures the highest quality training to educate employees. Safety Essentials was created to reach every learner at every level through explainer videos, analogies, interactions and engaging content addressing complex matters in a way that can be easily remembered and put to use at the job site. Furthermore, upon completion, trainees will automatically receive various Safety Essentials practical application guides through LINKmobile™ to provide accurate reference material. These guides can also be used by site leadership to deliver toolbox talks on key topics covered in the course material.
Safety Essentials reinforces the concept that everyone has a personal investment and responsibility in safety, instilling that everyone must do their job in the safest way possible so that everyone can go home at the end of the day the same way they came to work.
Flexibility while maintaining integrity
While developing Safety Essentials, HASC identified several consistent messages from contractors and owner/operators. Contractors were seeking intuitive, cost-effective training that would create a foundation for safe work operations. Safety Essentials addresses worksite challenges, conveys the various hazards and educates on how to mitigate them effectively.
Contractors also explicitly conveyed they wanted to escape the mundane experience of teaching to the test. Scholars who study "The Testing Effect," which suggests that long-term memory is increased when some of the learning period is devoted to retrieving information from memory share evidence that frequent testing and repetition of tested items can improve course performance by up to 10%. There is a multitude of studies that show the benefits that frequent quizzes have over final exams in terms of overall learning, engagement and individual performance. HASC has created a novel, elite training program in Safety Essentials that exceeds contractor expectations.
When HASC engaged with facility site owner/operators, there was an overwhelming emphasis on maintaining the testing integrity to have confidence that the correct person was trained and had successfully completed the relevant course. Safety Essentials can be taken at participating safety councils nationwide, as well as through LINK™ Live Online Proctoring (LOP), offering flexibility and convenience to the learner. Live Online Proctoring ensures integrity in the training and can be taken through a browser on a computer or mobile device with a camera.
With LOP, a highly qualified safety council proctor will verify the identity of the learner, compare their image to a government ID and ensure that the learner participates in a suitable location without distraction 100% of the course time. The integrity in the administration of training provided at a council translates directly into HASC's LINK™ LOP with live, in-person proctors offering the same great customer service and proctoring expertise available at physical locations. Training records are immediately stored with this process, offering real-time scoring and 24/7 access through LINK™. Records are tied to individuals with unique identifiers and live in perpetuity. This best-evidence recordkeeping provides flexibility while maintaining integrity, offering a legally defensible training record.
The entire Safety Essentials Suite is available online with progress by the learner bookmarked throughout courses, allowing learners to return to the same point in training if there is a need to step away or a connection is lost. Upon completion of the course, learners are asked to complete a course evaluation and have access to interact directly with safety SMEs if they have specific questions involving training content.
Recognizing the importance of ensuring records are accessible and available 24/7, HASC's innovative and intuitive, web-based, connected-worker interface that provides industry with a single-source solution to verify, track and train personnel is now a mobile application in LINKmobile™. Through LINKmobile™, owners and operators have on-the-go access to GateCheck™, a secure tool to quickly verify a contractor's identity and compliance with site-entry requirements. Additionally, contractors can easily register employees for training or occupational health services, and individuals can access their own records and a digital badge providing proof of completed training.
HASC provides training and occupational health for contractor compliance in the refining and chemical industry nationwide, with a mission of being an innovative leader by building safe workplaces.
For more information on Safety Essentials, visit thesafetyessentials.com.
For more information on HASC, visit hasc.com or call (281) 476-9900.
