Author: Jeffrey Dalto

How to Develop Technical Training (Tips from Dr. Ruth Colvin Clark)

Jeffrey Dalto 2 Comments

developing technical training book imageWe help a lot of our customers develop technical training for their workers–primarily for jobs in manufacturing and industry.

And in addition, we also lead a lot of technical training to teach customers to use one or more of our learning management systems.

And so we wanted to check out this book by the very well-known and highly credible Dr. Ruth Colvin Clark: Developing Technical Training: A Structured Approach for Developing Classroom and Computer-Based Instructional Materials.

We like her books for many reasons, but two of the most important are that they tend to be comprehensive and they are backed with research to determine if training techniques are effective or not.

We recommend you read this book if you’re interested in developing some technical training materials. But, if you’d like to get an idea of what the book’s about, we’ve written an overview below.

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New OSHA Reporting Requirements for Fatalities, Severe Injuries, and Illnesses

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OSHAOn September 11, 2014, we got news of some new OSHA reporting requirements that will go into effect on January 1, 2015.

Those changes will require employers to notify OSHA when:

  • A worker is killed on the job (notification must occur within eight hours)
  • A worker suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye (notification must occur within 24 hours)

All employers covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, even those who are exempt from maintaining injury and illness records, are required to comply with these new fatality and severe injury and illness reporting requirements.

The rule also updates the list of employers partially exempt from OSHA record-keeping requirements. According to OSHA:

“The previous list of exempt industries was based on the old Standard Industrial Classification system and the new rule uses the North American Industry Classification System to classify establishments by industry.” (Source)

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Create Your Own Safety Training With Articulate Studio

Jeffrey Dalto 5 Comments

Create Safety Training With Articulate Image(Since writing this post, we also used it as a basis for webinar. You can view a demonstration of the steps written below by watching our How to Create Custom Safety Training webinar, or simply read on if you prefer reading.)

For many companies with safety training needs, off-the-shelf e-learning courses like the ones we make here at Convergence Training are a great option. They provide affordable access to quality training on common safety topics. However, every work environment is different, with unique health and safety hazards, and one-size-fits-all training can’t meet 100% of your EHS needs 100% of the time.

If you rely on a learning management system to help you deliver your training, it can help to have some experience creating your own e-learning courses. There are some really simple tools out there that let you create your own, complete with interactivity and quizzes, to help you fill in any gaps in your EHS training library.

In this post, we’ll show you how you can create safety training with an e-learning authoring tool called Articulate Studio. When we’re done, you will have made an e-learning course that teaches crane operators to identify crane hand signals. The course will include a simple interactive slide show and a quiz. And then you can apply the process to create safety training materials of your own on any topic you wish.

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Better Mining Safety Training Visuals for New Miners: Using Visuals to Increase Learning

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Mining Safety Training Better Visuals Image

Want your newly hired miners to really remember their training? Need to train a worker to perform a new task, such as operating a dozer, and later know how to perform that task in the field? Want to find a way to speed-up that process of remembering and learning?

If so, this post is for you, my friend.

Getting a newly hired miner up to speed on all of the critical aspects of mining and mining safety is a tough job. If you’re a safety manager in charge of safety training at a mine site, you already know this.

But what should you do about it? One of the smartest things you can do is to use training methods that are PROVEN to work better with learners who are new to the content area. In this case, that means new to safety issues related to working at your mine, and/or related to working a specific task at your mine site.

We’ll be writing a series of articles explaining different techniques for getting these “novice learners” up to speed in the coming weeks. In this post, we’ll look at one of the most effective: using visuals in your mining training.

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Online Respirator Training: Online Courses, Free Online Word Game, FAQs, and More

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online respirator training course image

OSHA puts out a list of the ten most commonly cited standard violations every year. Here’s a list of OSHA’s Top Ten, 2016. Respiratory Protection is on that list this year, and so we’ve got some online respirator training resources for you in this article–plus more.

Many of the same standards appear on the list again and again (that’s true of respiratory protection, by the way). And as a result, we’ve pulled together a series of blogs to help you train your workers about each of the ten most cited standards. Below, we’ve got a bunch of materials to help with respirator training.

Let us know if you’ve got some other resources you’d suggest. The comments field awaits.

Before you dig into the information about respirator training below, feel free to check out our short sample video that demonstrates a few highlights of our safety and health courses.

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Better Safety Training for New Employees: Using Visuals

Jeffrey Dalto 2 Comments

better safety training for new employeesNeed to train a worker with no job experience in your industry about all the safety hazards at your site before they can begin working? Or maybe you have to get a new employee acquainted with the safe work practices of a new position he or she just moved into? If so, read on–this post is for you.

Training a newly hired employee about all the critical safety aspects of a job is  tough work. If you’re a safety manager in charge of safety training, we’re not telling you anything you don’t already know.

But what can you do to make your safety training better? One of the smartest things you can do is to use training methods that are proven to work better with learners who are new to the content area. In your case, that means they’re new to safety issues related to working at your site, and/or safety issues related to working a specific job.

We’ll be writing a series of articles explaining different techniques for getting these “novice learners” up to speed in the coming weeks. In this post, we’ll look at one of the most effective: using visuals in your training.

Contact Convergence Training now for help with your safety training, or check out our learning management systems and safety training e-learning courses.

While you’re here, you may want to download this free Guide to Effective EHS Training, too.

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Graphic Design Tips for eLearning: 25 Fundamental Techniques

Jeffrey Dalto 1 Comment

graphic design techniques for elearning imageLooking for something you can do to create more effective learning experiences for your workers? Experiences in which the workers really learn and then transfer that learning to the workplace? We all are, right?

One of the easiest things you can do to help your workers learn is to create better training visuals that are well-conceived and designed. In fact, research shows that you can use better training visuals to dramatically increase your learner’s comprehension, retention, and transfer of behaviors to the workplace—and that’s especially true for “novice” learners who are new to a particular content area.

Want to know why this is true?  Want to learn some techniques to help you learn how to design great training materials? Sure you do! Just keep reading (and looking at the example visuals, of course) to learn more. We’ve got some great graphic design tips for elearning for you below–for any type of training, really.

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The Benefits of Optional, Elective-Based Training At the Workplace

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If you administer a learning management system (LMS) at your workplace, or even if you’re just thinking about getting one, you may be focused on mandatory training assignments.

And that makes sense. There’s a lot of training that you’ll want to be 100% sure your employees complete: job-based training about their current position at your workplace, mandatory safety and compliance training — You can probably add more items to the list yourself.

Convergence Training is a training solutions provider. We make a series of learning management systems, many libraries of e-learning courses for workforce training, apps for mobile learning and performance support, and more. Contact us to ask some questions and set up a demo. 

You may also be interested in the free guides below:

But What About Elective Training?

With all that focus on mandatory training assignments, it can be easy to lose track of the value of making elective training available on an optional basis. What are some reasons to make optional elective training available to your workers, you ask? We’ll list a few below.

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Better Papermaking Training for New Paper Makers: Get New Employees Up to Speed Fast With Visuals

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Paper Manufacturing Training Visual Image

Need to get a brand new hire with no experience in the papermaking industry trained before he or she can hit the floor on the clean up crew? Or do you want to get someone from converting ready to work on a paper machine? Or maybe you need to train workers to prepare them for a new position on the paper machine, as they move from Winder Operator to 5th Hand?

If so, papermaking friend, then this is the post for you.

 

In particular, in this article, we’ll discuss that use of visuals within your training materials for onboarding new papermakers more efficiently and effectively.

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Choosing an LMS: How to Get it Right the First Time

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Choosing a Learning Management System Image

Wondering what  to consider when choosing a learning management system, or LMS?  If so, you’re in good company.

Many companies realize that an LMS can help their workforce training program, but they have no solid ideas of what to look for, how to evaluate the LMS itself, or how to evaluate the LMS provider.

Adopting an LMS is a big decision, and not one to rush into. Even with time and caution, it’s a tough process to choose the right one. And choosing a poor one can really set you back, wasting time, money, and momentum.

To make the process easier, and help steer you in better directions, we’ve created a free downloadable guide to lead you through the LMS decision process. It’s at the bottom of this article.

Here are the topics we’ll cover in this article and that we’ll cover in more detail in the free guide at the bottom:

  1. Identify and consult with LMS stakeholders
  2. Determine business needs for LMS
  3. Where to get your LMS: Open source, build-your-own, or buy?
  4. Evaluate the LMS
  5. General functionality of the LMS
  6. Important features of the LMS

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Online Electrical Safety Training (Wiring): Online Courses, Free Online Word Game, FAQs & More

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online electrical safety training (wiring) image

Every year, OSHA puts out a lot of the 10 standards that are most frequently cited. Here’s a list of OSHA’s Top Ten in 2016.Electrical—Wiring Methods, Components, and Equipment for General Use is on that 2016 list, and so we’ve got some online electrical wiring safety training resources for you here–plus more.

Many of the same standards appear on the list again and again, year after year. As a result, we’ve pulled together a series of blogs to help you train your workers about each of the ten most cited standards. In this one, as we said, we’ve got lots of information about electrical wiring, and lots of online electrical wiring training materials for you.

Let us know if you’ve got some other resources you’d suggest. The comments field awaits your input.

Before you dig into the information about electrical wiring training below, feel free to check out our short sample video that demonstrates a few highlights of our online safety and health courses.

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Closing the Skills Gap with Structured On-The-Job Training (OJT)

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closing-the-skills-gapI spend a lot of time working with new customers in the manufacturing sector who are just beginning to use our Convergence learning management system (LMS) at their workplace as they try to close a skill gap at work.

At many of these businesses, a large part of the workforce is older and nearing retirement. These older workers are very experienced and have a lot of knowledge about the processes, procedures, and machines in their workplace. Unfortunately, that information is typically just “in their heads” — it’s rarely written down, documented, or recorded in any way.

As these more experienced workers retire, the manufacturing companies are scrambling to hire newer, younger workers to take their place. These workers are ambitious and work hard, but they know only a fraction of the stuff they need to know to operate as effectively as the more experienced workers they’ll need to replace soon.

Naturally, our customers want to facilitate the transfer of critical knowledge and skills to these new workers. Ideally, they can get the new hires up to speed quickly, and they can capture that critical knowledge before the more experienced workers retire.

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