Hello everybody and welcome back! This month we were looking to discuss the 2nd and 3rd Steps of implementation – the Communication Step and the Training Step. While these two steps may seem similar at the surface, they are different in important ways and must be treated as mutually exclusive from one another.
The Communication Step is all about raising awareness about your topic, most likely the newly created policy that was developed in Step One. It is about letting all employees know that that a new program/procedure was developed and where they can go to learn more information about it. Communication methods can include safety talks, communication posters, email memos and more!
The Training Step is about equipping the relevant workplace parties with the knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate the program in the workplace. It is about training relevant employees on their roles and responsibilities and the procedures identified in the policy. Training methods can include classroom training, 1-on-1 training, e-modules, job shadowing, etc.
For example, if you had chosen the Injury, Illness and Incident Reporting topic, the Communication step could include sending out an email communication to all employees that a new Incident Reporting policy was created and letting them know where they can find it. This communication method could be supplemented by posting communication posters throughout the workplace regarding the new Incident Reporting policy. The Training step could involve classroom training with staff to train them on the definitions of an incident and near-miss, how to report incidents and recordkeeping procedures of incident forms.
Overall, the Communication and Training Step compliment one another, but it is important to consider the key differences between them.