Let’s face it, we live in a digital world.

Not only do we live in a digital world, but we greatly benefit from having technology being a part of just about every aspect of our lives. Naturally, workplace safety and workplace safety training aren’t any different. In fact, we’ve progressed to a point where we can create our own complete online safety training program right at the touch of our finger, ensuring that every member of your team receives the training necessary for their jobs, your individual workplace, and more.

If you’re reading this, you’re likely one of two people. One, you’re already familiar with creating online safety training courses and are looking for a platform where you can do it quickly and easily. Two, you’re just dipping your toe into the world of online safety training and the idea of creating your very own courses for your workplace or for training sounds interesting and you’re ready to learn more. 

If you’re anybody else, don’t worry. This handy guide will introduce you to online safety training and teach you how to use one of its most tantalizing features –– creating your very own online courses.

Online Safety Training Courses, Defined

Online safety training is most often defined as a database of safety training courses that employees can take on any subject relative to their job duties, or are specific to the company itself. This safety training course database acts as a user-friendly platform where users can easily navigate to, and complete, courses while EHS managers and other safety pros can access test scores, course materials, record keeping, etc. relative to their job functions. 

Because online safety training courses are most often hosted online, they’re typically accessible by mobile devices with WiFi connection capabilities such as a phone or tablet. Therefore, making them dynamic for a variety of work settings.

Notable Attributes of An Effective Online Safety Training Course

When logging into an online safety training platform to take a safety training course, you’ll notice that there are a lot of notable features that famously streamline the training process. Particularly, in comparison to EHS training DVDs, USBs, or VHSs.

Record keeping

Online training boasts the ability to store records for simple access should a company need to produce them for insurance or OSHA purposes.

Flexibility and Efficiency

If an employee is absent on the day of training, they can take an online training course to still be accounted for. Plus, no more lost production training a roomful of employees.

Accessibility

Employees can take their training in a variety of diverse work settings. “Refresher” training or safety shorts can be used to brush up specific topics before diving into the workday.

Instructor Assistance

Online training is the ideal supplement for instructor-led training, especially for more in-depth safety training topics.

Bonus Materials

Certain online safety training platforms, such as SafetySoft, provide value-added material such as handouts, toolbox talks, etc.

Ideal for Safety Culture

Due to its interactive nature, online safety training is more engaging in that it can provide a one-on-one experience to help nurture a positive safety culture. Specifically, through learning retention, because it allows the user to learn at their own pace.

Getting Set Up With Online Safety Training

If creating your own online safety training courses is of interest to you and you have yet to find your ideal platform, you’ll need to start by choosing the best online safety training provider. Fortunately, in most cases, it’s relatively easy.

Assessing Your Needs to Choose the Right Provider

Online safety training providers may all seem the same, but the truth is that their offerings vary by technology, content, and hosting platform. To know exactly what you need in an online safety provider, assess your current needs.

Do You Need an LMS? –– If you have no idea what an LMS is, then chances are you need one in order to host your online safety training courses. An LMS, or Learning Management System, is simply the platform in which the course content is stored. It’s the LMS that provides reporting, record keeping, employee info and more. An LMS is best suited for companies who have 25+ employees that need consistent training, and need to produce safety-related paperwork for insurance companies. Particularly in high-risk industries. If a simple LMS is all you need SafetySoft, in addition to allowing you to create your own courses, is a simple LMS that can manage your safety training for you.

Do You Need Online Safety Training Videos? –– Maybe your training looks more like a few instructor-led courses every now and then, and really all you need is access to an online library of safety training videos with additional course materials. In which case, SafetySoft is your answer. It hosts over 500 safety training courses to assist your staff, while also providing a plethora of materials to keep employees engaged.

Do You Need Individual Courses for an Existing LMS? –– Maybe you already have an LMS but just want training content. In which case, you’ll likely want to look into .mp4 files or SCORM files compatible with your LMS. If you’re looking for a one-stop LMS that includes content, course creation features, and more, SafetySoft is your answer.

Do You Need...Everything? –– If you need everything; an LMS to host your safety training courses, course content itself, online safety training videos for instructors AND the ability to create your courses, SafetySoft is your online safety training mecca. Plus, it’s easy to use, affordable and has a high ROI. 

Creating Your Own Safety Training Courses with SafetySoft

Now, let’s get to the crux-de-ta of online safety training...building your very own online safety training courses.

Building your own courses is beneficial for a number of reasons, the biggest one being that you can create course content completely around the standards and regulations of your workplace. All too often, companies have their own strict set of EHS regulations that employees must follow, both to maintain the safety and wellbeing of their employees, but also to remain compliant with their insurance companies. That being the case, it’s ideal for EHS staff to be able to create courses that align with those regulations. 

SafetySoft by Atlantic Training is proud to introduce the course creator feature that now allows users to create their own custom courses. If you want to create your own custom online safety training courses but have yet to get set up with an online safety training provider, contacting a training development representative with SafetySoft will be your first move. From there, it’s a super smooth process that can have you creating courses within a day or two.

Once you’re all set up, you can begin to create your first course which is outlined in a step-by-step process here.

Creating Your Own SafetySoft Course Materials

The exciting thing about SafetySoft’s new course creation feature is that you can make your courses even more engaging and interactive by injecting process questions along the way.

What does that mean? After an employee has completed a section of the safety training course, you can create a series of multiple-choice questions to track how well they retained the information from that section. This ensures that employees aren't just clicking through your courses, but are actively retaining the material to know how to apply the safety measures outlined in the content. You can learn all about how to create your own recap questions with SafetySoft in this article.

That’s not even the best part. The best part is that at the end of your course, you can create a final quiz that records the score to you, as the safety professional in your own SafetySoft portal. After creating your course, creating your quiz at the end, and administering it to employees, you’ll be able to see who passed, who failed, who took more than once to pass, who still needs to take the quiz/training, etc. You can learn all about how to create your own quizzes in SafetySoft in this article.

That’s not all. With great safety comes great safety materials, as SafetySoft will give you free access to quizzes, PowerPoints, instructor materials, checklists, training guides, toolbox talks, and more...giving you literally everything you could possibly need for your safety training program, and at a very affordable cost.

Let’s Recap

Phew, that was a lot of information to digest, so let’s do a little recap.

• Online safety training is quickly gaining leverage in the EHS world, and for good reason as it plays host to a variety of never-before-seen benefits.
• Getting set up with an online safety training provider is easy, it’s just a matter of assessing your needs and learning about the different online safety training products being offered.
• Need it all? SafetySoft is your answer. It easy-to-use, convenient, engaging, cost-effective, and can transform your safety training program in a way guaranteed to produce ROI for your company while helping you remain compliant.
• SafetySoft also has impressive new custom course creation features that can allow you to create customized EHS training that aligns with your companies regulations and safety policies.
• Plus, it also gives you access to countless resources...ensuring you always have the engaging, up-to-date safety training materials you need at any given time.

Bottom line, SafetySoft is your one-stop-shop for online safety training, especially after unveiling their new course creation feature. If you’re ready to make transformational changes in your workplace’s EHS training, contact one of our training development representatives for a no-pressure conversation about how you can take your EHS training to whole new levels.