Did you know that in 2019, 5,333 workers died on the job in the US? Work-related deaths can happen for various reasons, but safety may play a role in protecting workers.

Fortunately, online safety courses can help your employees learn how to perform their jobs well. That way, you can minimize the chances of someone on your team becoming a statistic.

Read on to learn more.

Cover Multiple Things

One of the benefits of online safety courses for your staff is that lessons can cover whatever you need to cover. Whether you want to learn about Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines or something else, you can do so.

You can even look for online training courses that cover a subject more generally or that go into some depth. Another option is to look for online safety courses that focus on a topic as it relates to a particular work environment, such as healthcare.

That way, you and your employees will be able to learn the information you need to do your job. And you don’t need to spend time learning about the subject as it relates to a completely different industry.

Instead, you’ll be able to get through the information you need to perform tasks at work. Your employees will be able to understand why the course is important, so they can take it more seriously.

Offer Role-Specific Training

As mentioned, you can offer safety courses to employees based on their specific work environment. Take this further and offer courses for people based on their job title.

For example, you may offer one course for supervisors and managers, while employees will take a different course. You might also only offer a course on lifts to people who need to use them.

Specific courses can offer more insight and direction than more general safety training for employees. While you may offer a general course, supplement it with something for someone’s particular job.

That way, they can learn even more about the subject and how it may affect them at work. Soon enough, employees will understand how to perform tasks using the training materials.

Train in Different Languages

Another benefit of online safety courses is that you can look for courses in more than just English. Most of your employees may speak English, but some might also speak Spanish.

Some of those employees may feel more comfortable learning in Spanish, especially if it’s their native language. If an employee can learn something in their first language, they may retain the information better.

Then, they may be able to learn faster since they won’t have to worry about misinterpreting the words. Instead, they can focus on learning the information.

When they’re ready to use what they learn, they can be more efficient. Since they learned in a language they understand, the odds of them messing up may be lower.

Effective Materials and Lessons

When you invest in online training for safety, you have access to more courses and instructors. You can choose the best courses to offer your employees based on what you want them to learn.

If you chose to focus on in-person training, you would need to reduce your search to instructors in the local area. That may include an expert who can offer good training.

But the trainer may not know everything about your industry, and they might not offer all of the training you want. By looking online, you can find a website with plenty of online safety courses for your entire team.

Then, your employees will get to learn from the best of the best. When they finish a course, they will know what they need to do to stay safe without compromising on productivity.

Automate Training

If you only have a few employees, managing training manually may not take much time. However, as your team grows, you’ll need to keep track of when each employee needs to take a specific training course.

When you use in-person training, you would need to email employees individually to schedule training sessions. But if you purchase online safety courses, some of them will handle notifications for you.

You can make sure to send training notifications to employees at the right time. Then, you don’t have to figure out who is due for a certain course.

The more you can automate tasks in the business, the more you can grow. Training notifications are an easy way to save time so that you can focus on other important tasks.

Standardize Training

If you choose to offer in-person training, you run the risk of different sessions not covering the same information. Whether a different person gives the training or they simply forget something, employees may not all receive the same training.

However, when you enroll your employees in online safety courses, you can ensure they will learn the same things. You don’t have to worry about a trainer leaving out important details.

Being able to standardize training can reduce confusion between employees. Everyone will be clear on your company policies and processes, so they can get to work.

That way, you won’t have to deal with conflict between employees who went to different training sessions. Instead, everyone will be on the same page every time they take a new course.

Hold Employees Accountable

Operating in-person training can take a lot of work, especially when it comes to getting people to show up. You may need to use email threads to schedule sessions, and people may still miss their sessions.

When you use online courses, you can set up automatic email notifications. Then, employees will receive a notice when they have a new course to complete.

If they don’t finish the course within a few days, they can get another email reminder. Some employees might continue to ignore those notifications, but the emails may encourage people to take the course.

You don’t have to be the one to bug employees to go through new training. So everyone can save time, and you’ll be able to hold people accountable to taking new courses.

Track Progress

Supervisors can also help hold their employees accountable. Some online training platforms allow managers to track their employees and the progress they’ve made on their courses.

You can make sure your workers are learning what they need to learn. If they seem to be ignoring the reminder emails, you can talk to them and get them to go through their lessons.

When employees do make progress, you can see where each person is at. If someone is struggling, you can talk to them about the subject to make sure they understand the materials.

That way, you can address any questions or concerns before they become a huge problem. And everyone will be able to enjoy the learning process.

Accessible

Another advantage of online safety courses is that employees can learn from anywhere. This is becoming more important as more employees look to work from home.

But even if someone works in person, they may not always have time to work on their courses from a computer. If someone needs to spend time at client sites, they might not have a good laptop to use.

In that case, it can help to have access to online safety courses that work on mobile devices. That way, employees can go through training wherever they need to and whenever they have the time.

Employees won’t need to travel to a central office to receive the training either. Instead, they can complete the materials when and where it makes sense for them. Just make sure they don’t do so while driving.

More Flexible

Accessibility and flexibility go hand in hand, so accessible courses are also more flexible. If you offer in-person training, employees would need to have time to attend a session that you schedule.

However, that can disrupt company operations, especially if you only offer a particular training once. You might need to have entire teams stop their work just to go through training at the same time.

While this isn’t a problem for everyone, it can affect customer-facing teams. Instead of training customer service employees on back safety at once, have them learn the subject online.

Then, they can learn from their desks. They can also work through a lesson or two in between customers, so they don’t need to work on the materials outside of business hours.

Decrease Absences

Flexibility can also help decrease the number of absences within the workplace. Even people who don’t work directly with customers can stay at their desks throughout the day as they go through the training.

That way, if someone needs to complete a task for you, they can stop their training session. You can also make sure people are at work more so that they can complete certain tasks.

This safety course flexibility is great for everyone in your organization. Whether someone is a new employee or they started a new role, they might have to take multiple courses.

If they can go through those courses at work, they can start to learn more about their job. And your other employees can get used to having the whole team in the office to help build morale.

More Productive

In-person training can be nice for some people, but it can hurt other employees. If someone learns quickly, they would still need to stay for the entire training session.

However, if they completed their training online, they could get to work sooner. This can help your company become more productive because you have another employee able to use their new skills and knowledge.

Improving productivity offers benefits itself, and online safety courses can help you access that productivity. Of course, you’ll still have employees who take a bit longer to go through their courses.

But you don’t have to worry about holding back employees who can go through the courses in less time. Instead, you can empower them to learn on their own and start using the material immediately.

Pick Back Up

A more specific benefit of online safety course flexibility is that you can start and stop at any time. As mentioned, employees who work with customers can go through the training when they have downtime.

However, anyone can stop in the middle of a course to go on lunch or to go home for the day. After they return to work, they can jump into the course where they stopped the last time.

Employees won’t have to go through the whole course again just to try and get to the end in one go. When you rely on in-person training, you can’t take a break like that.

Sure, you may be able to offer bathroom breaks or a lunch break. But being able to start and stop as necessary can encourage employees to start making progress on their new online safety courses.

Retain the Information

Online courses can also engage your employees to help them learn and enjoy learning. When you attend a training session in person, it can be easy to drift off and not pay attention.

However, online courses can use different types of media to encourage participation. For example, employees may have to do some reading along with watching a video.

Some courses even have short quizzes that employees must pass before they move to the next lesson. These elements can be a great way to get people to pay attention during their training.

And the more people pay attention, the more information they’ll retain. Then, they’ll be able to follow new safety procedures to keep themselves and their coworkers safe.

Less Physical Stuff

If employees attend training in-person, they may need to use a notebook and pen to take notes. Depending on the training, they may also receive handouts from the instructor.

All of this clutter can add up and take up unnecessary space. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about that with online safety courses.

Employees can take notes on their computer if they choose, but any files they get will come as downloads. This is nice for employees who have a small desk space.

They won’t need to worry about keeping track of a notebook. It may sound small, but not needing to use paper and other physical items can save space, time, and money for your company.

Up to Date

Safety training can change quickly, especially as new regulations come out from governmental or industrial organizations. Even if you hire a good trainer, they may use older materials.

However, if you choose the best online safety courses, they will have the most current information. That way, your employees can learn what regulations will affect them now.

Updating online courses is also easier for the course company. No one has to print off new materials, and employees don’t have to go to another training session for one small change.

Instead, they can log into an online course to check for updates. If there are any, the employee can go through the new lessons immediately to stay up-to-date.

Encourage Collaboration

You can also encourage employees to go through courses with each other, especially if they all have downtime. If someone needs help understanding the materials, a coworker can explain the concept.

Then, employees will be able to learn from each other and practice collaboration. When they have a project that they have to complete as a team, people will already know how to work together.

Of course, you can encourage collaboration in other ways, such as by assigning tasks to multiple employees. However, people may enjoy getting to help their teammates learn something new.

And you won’t have to field tons of questions from employees who don’t quite get something from the training. They can ask their colleagues for help to get multiple perspectives so that they can learn the materials.

Help With Professional Development

You can also use online safety courses to help employees with their professional development. Not only can employees take courses that will help them now, but you can offer more courses to your top employees.

For example, you might have plans to promote your best worker to the manager of their team. To help them prepare for the switch, you can offer an extra course that would help them in their new position.

When you’re ready to offer the promotion, the employee may feel more ready for it. And you won’t have to do as much training to help them switch to the new job.

Even if employees don’t plan to move up the ladder, they can still learn something new. That can help them do their current job better, which can help you and the rest of the company.

Saves Time

Online safety courses can save time for the entire team and organization. Employees don’t need to take time off of work to go to a training session, and managers don’t have to cover their work.

Your workers will also get the chance to learn at their own pace, which can save time for everyone. As mentioned, employees who learn fast can complete courses sooner.

Employees that need more time can go back and learn the materials. But they won’t have to slow down other people like they would in a group training session.

When an employee is done with a course, they can start to use what they learned. Then, they may be able to save time in their daily tasks, depending on the course content.

Saves Money

Before you decide between in-person and online safety courses, you should consider your business budget. Take a look at how much money you have to spend on safety training.

In many cases, enrolling employees in online courses won’t cost as much as bringing in a trainer. This can be especially true if only a couple of employees need to take a particular course.

Online courses are ready to go, so they can be much more affordable. Even if a lot of people need to take a course, you may find that you save money.

Not only will you not have to hire a trainer, but you won’t have to pay mileage to employees that may need to travel. Do the math to determine if online courses will cost less than in-person training to help you decide which is best.

Enjoyable

Online safety training may sound boring, but it can be quite enjoyable, at least for some employees. If you choose an engaging course, your employees may look forward to participating in the program.

They won’t have to worry about going to training with a big group where they may not get to participate. Instead, they can learn from the comfort of their main desk space.

Employees can choose to work on the course on their own, or they can partner up with a coworker. Then, they’ll be able to learn in a way that makes sense for them.

When employees enjoy the training, they may look forward to coming to work. And when that happens, you may be able to boost team morale.

Retain Employees

Many of the other benefits of online safety courses can help you retain employees. People will be able to learn when it makes sense for them, and they won’t have to attend boring training meetings.

This may help people enjoy their overall jobs, which can keep them from wanting to leave the company. Retaining employees can be great for employees because they can form better relationships with each other.

It will also help your company save money and time on recruiting new employees. And you won’t have to pay for a new employee to go through the same training that your current and former employees have completed.

Are Online Safety Courses Right for Your Company?

Online safety courses can be an excellent way for employees to learn how to stay safe at work. From saving time and money to increasing flexibility, consider a few benefits.

That way, you’ll be able to determine if online courses are better than in-person training. If so, you can make the switch and have your employees learn no matter where they are.

Do you want to learn more about online safety courses? Request a demo today.