GLFEA Members Implement CD-ROM Construction Safety

An innovation in construction safety training has been launched the Great Lakes Fabricators & Erectors Association. A series of CD-ROM based modules are being used to provide general construction safety awareness to up to 300 project site supervisors employed by GLFEA members. The program is the first of its kind for the construction trades.

The modules have been prepared by Coastal Training Technologies under a program developed by the Great Lakes Construction Alliance. The general construction safety awareness series of modules represent the first phase of a multiphase effort to provide both general and trade specific safety education in an interactive, effective, efficient, and certifiable manner.

"There are to a total of 12 CD-ROM training modules in the awareness series," Jim Walker, GLFEA executive director said. "We now have them available for training and we've purchased ten laptop computers that are available for loan to our members to assist in bringing the program to their workers."

The Michigan Occupational Safety & Health Administration has reviewed the general construction safety awareness training modules and approved them. It has issued a letter confirming that successful completion of all 12 will qualify for completing its ten hour academic certification requirement.

Some of the subjects covered in the modules include personal protective equipment, hazard communication, electrical safety, lookout/tagout practices, fall protection, and confined space safety. Students take a test before starting the modules to determine their safety knowledge before they begin training. This provides a baseline to determine how much they've learned after the modules are completed.

The second phase of the safety training program -- a series of industry specific awareness training modules -- also are expected to be ready soon.

"For our industry specific CD-ROMs, we partnered with the National Erectors Association and the Ironworkers International, using their expertise to focus on safe steel erection practices," Walker said. "They'll providing an in-depth analysis on a variety of erection procedures."

The safety training program's last phase will focus on "hand's on" safety awareness. Currently the finishing touchesare being refined by the GLFEA and the Ironworkers' Joint Apprenticeship Committee."

Highly interactive, the CD-ROMs quiz the knowledge acquired by each student along the way to ensure they retain what they learn. In fact, it's impossible to complete each module without providing the correct answers for each module segment. If a wrong answer is entered, the student is taken back into the program to receive additional training so that he or she can understand the correct answer.

"In the end," Walker said, "there's no way you can't be exposed to all of the safety training material."

Upon completion of each module, students are required to connect to Coastal's web site - at http://www.safe2work.com - and take a certification test before proceeding to the next module. Each module certification will cost $20 but, under the GLFEA program, the association will be picking up the charges for its members. Using passwords and encryption to protect privacy, employers can also access the website to check the present safety certification status of their employees.

Future plans being formulated by the GLCA call for linking employee safety certification status to the drug testing program operated by Management & Unions Serving Together (MUST), which the Alliance maintains. This will permit employers on MUST project sites to check to see if a new worker is "current" on both safety training and drug testing, using a one card identification system.

"So the ideal is that the training is transferable" Walker said. "The card system is a key component to provide verifiable and consistent safety training, to avoid redundancy and to ensure compliance."

GLFEA members will be able to gain access to the CD-ROM training through a variety of means, Walker said. Besides borrowing one of the laptops, some may simply take a set of the modules with them for use on computers in the office or at home. The association is planning to have training computers established at a number of fix locations.

Once training is provided for jobsite supervisors, the GLFEA will be working with the Ironworkers Local 25 Joint Apprentice School, extending the same training to approximately 600 apprentices.

"I've been testing it out for a while now and I think it's a good system," said Ed Abbott, who runs the apprenticeship school. "One of its best features is that it's designed to let people learn with it at their own pace. The program keeps your interest up and that aids in learning."

He said the CD-ROM modules do a fine job in providing a wide range of safety information interactively. Abbott especially appreciated that students aren't permitted to move out of a section into the next section before correctly answering questions. Wrong answers direct the student back into the safety education material to explain why their response was in error and to refresh and confirm their understanding.

"It's going to be very helpful in delivering a lot of information to the apprentices here," Abbott declared.

Yet, he was also quick to point out, while the program has many virtues, nothing can replace employer driven instruction on safety policies and procedures that are specifically related to job or project site conditions. "I doubt if anything can replace the safety training that contractors provide," Abbott declared. The CD-ROM modules cover a lot of ground but every contractor and every job has differences that are difficult for a formal safety education program to anticipate.