Course saves 432 days each year on training

The course - from Engage in Learning saves each of Nationwide's 17,000 employees 10 minutes on their health & safety training. The interactive design of the course also means that staff don't have to waste time reviewing content that they already understand. 



Once a year, all staff in Nationwide's head office, branches, administration centres and call centres take an initial online pre-test that assesses their knowledge and directs them to the specific course modules they need to complete for their annual health & safety training. The full course is also included in Nationwide's induction programme for new employees. 



"The course takes account of what you know and it only shows you the modules you need to revise, so you don't have to keep covering the same ground every year," said Jonathan Munton, chief safety officer at Nationwide. "This is a significant benefit for our staff as they only have to learn what's relevant to them. The pre-test uses a range of different questions, so people can't simply share the right answers." 



Nationwide introduced the new course last year, to support the health & safety information and guidance pages it offered on its intranet. 



"E-learning is ideal for health & safety training as the course content is not only consistent and reusable, you also get a training record on your Learning Management System which provides evidence that you're complying with your legal responsibilities," said Jonathan Munton. 



"Our L&D team recommended some leading e-learning providers. Engage in Learning were already an approved supplier, as we use their leadership, customer service and personal development courses. They have a range of off-the-shelf safety training courses and they created a customised course for us which is personalised for our business and the risks we face. This is a better option than creating a bespoke e-learning course, because Engage in Learning will maintain and update the course content. If the legislation changes, they'll amend the course accordingly, whereas if we had a bespoke course, we'd have to do that ourselves."



The new course - which has been shortlisted for the 2015 e-learning award for 'best use of e-learning for compliance' - uses accelerated learning techniques to provide essential health & safety advice, including how to identify hazards and control the risks in the workplace. It features practical tips and exercises to help employees stay physically and mentally healthy at work. Additional modules are available on mobile working - for employees who 'hot desk' or work in remote locations - and manual handling, where this is required.



"The course asks if mobile working or manual handling are relevant to you and if they are, it will include questions on these aspects in the pre-test," said Jonathan Munton. "If people need training in these areas, the course will direct them to those particular modules."



In an evaluation of the new course, involving 7200 Nationwide employees, 96% felt confident about their health & safety awareness after completing their annual refresher training. 97% of 1,400 new starters said the course met their personal objectives and 99% felt confident in applying their learning in the workplace, after the course. 93% of all learners said the course inspired and motivated them.



"We've been pleased by the positivity of the evaluation results," said Jonathan Munton. "Health & safety can be a dry subject but Engage in Learning offer an effective and enjoyable way to provide mandatory training. They're a very professional and responsive partner and I'd have no hesitation in recommending them. Our health & safety course is quick and easy to complete and it ensures that our people know what they need to know, to do their jobs safely."



www.healthandsafetyevents.co.uk

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