Fall arrest training is critical for keeping staff safe when they must go into some potentially dangerous situations. Fortunately , when completed properly, it effectively reduce the risks for employees to an acceptable level.
Just as importantly , it helps firms comply with rules and regulations regarding workplace safety.
The right fall protection training for your workers should ideally include at least four key elements for it to serve you well. If the training you’re considering doesn’t meet all 4 factors, it’s a good idea to look somewhere else.
Here are the 4 things you must consider when choosing fall protection training:
1. Does the program you are considering involve all of the scenarios and skill sets your employees are likely to encounter in the real world?
Numerous skills are involved in fall protection, and different skills are necessary for different eventualities. You need to choose for your staff a program that specifically teaches the skills most likely to be encountered in your particular situations. In addition, hands on experience is required for students to master the skill of themselves in the event of a fall, so the course you choose must involve hands on experience.
Legal requirements may not be met if the training in which your company participates isn’t extremely similar in nature to the real-life situations your employees will face.
2. Are students given sufficient time with each piece of equipment to get comfortable with the skills involved in using it?
Not everybody learns at the same pace, so the training program must allow sufficient time with every piece of relevant equipment for even the slowest students to master using it — without wasting everyone’s time training for situations that will never be encountered. As an example, repelling in an oil refinery involves a greater variety and intensity of safety training for the responsible person on the job site than putting up signs in front of businesses, so the depth of training required for the jobs is different.
Training programs vary widely in format and duration, so it’s important to choose a course that goes deep enough into the topic to effectively train your staff for its purpose.
3. Are your employees kept safe during the training?
As you can imagine, learning to be safe can be a dangerous business. That’s the reason why fall protection training instructors have to conduct the course in a manner that limits risks to students. Since students are probably going to use equipment wrongly or slip during training, instructors must take this into consideration when designing their courses and training methodology.
Training circumstances should accurately represent real workplace scenarios, but instructors should put measures in place to eliminate risks to students at each turn.
4. Are the trainers qualified to conduct the classes?
Instructors need qualifications as well as experience providing adult education classes to do a good job teaching fall arrest training. It’s not quite good enough for you to assume that everyone offering a course is qualified to do so. Take time to ask about industry experience and certification before selecting an instructor or company that you will trust with the safety of your staff.
Instructors also need training in evaluating students. Just because they know the skills involved in safety and can convey them well does not necessarily mean they understand how to test and evaluate student performance.
When you keep these four key elements in mind as you’re selecting a company to handle your fall arrest training, you’ll be likely to make a better decision concerning which training programme to pick. And that suggests you can sleep better at night knowing your staff are as safe as possible every day.
Frits Van-Daalen is owner of Rope Access Inspections and is passionatelt writes about fall arrest & basic rescue training.