Oral

Thirty-eight years into the modern OSHA era training remains one of the most common prescriptions for improving workplace safety and health. The OSHAct mandates employee training in many standards, and a sizeable training industry has developed around particular hazards and regulations. Numerous federal agencies have significant involvement and jurisdiction in OHS training including OSHA, MSHA, EPA, NIEHS, DOT, and NIOSH. This includes regulatory mandates, direct or contractual development and delivery of training programs, and research on training effectiveness (NIOSH). Fifteen years ago the literature on training effectiveness in OHS was extremely sparse. In recent years more published evidence on the efficacy of specific training programs and pedagogies has appeared. In particular the NIEHS Worker Education and Training Program has emphasized training quality and learner-centered pedagogy. However, a continuing challenge is that while many federally funded training programs require evaluation of effectiveness in their grants, rarely are sufficient resources provided to fulfill both training delivery and comprehensive evaluation.

Session Objectives: Upon completion of this session participants will be able to recall the following: * Describe the federal occupational health and safety (OHS) training infrastructure in the U.S. * Identify four barriers to evaluation of OHS training effectiveness * List specific elements (best practices) of current federal training models that promote quality training * Discuss the feasibility of applying these best practices to other training programs.