Online Vs. Conventional: Safety Training Approaches

A meta-analysis of multiple studies comparing classroom lessons with electronic distance learning lessons reported that no major differences exist in learning between the two styles of presentation (Bernard, Abrami, Lou, et al., 2004). [...]many recent news stories report that college degrees may not have a positive return on investment in lifetime earnings. [...]there is evidence that anecdotal stories unrelated to the learning objective, while interesting, may interfere with the student's ability to retain the important information intended to be conveyed in the training (Clark, 2010). The trick is to determine which mode of training is the best choice for each safety training requirement and employ the optimal modality. Because of the widespread diversity of knowledge, skills, abilities and comprehension levels required to be conveyed in the vast range of safety training programs, OSH professionals should carefully evaluate and identify the specific hazards for which training is needed and determine what competencies are required to mitigate these risks.