And so it Begins…
When a project begins, there is a stage of planning at the Owner/Prime Contractor HSE level that will develop a Health & Safety Management Program (HSMP) and a Project Specific Safety Plan (PSSP). These will be the guiding documents for all training requirements on the project.
Both include a training matrix that will be based on the anticipated activities on site. Normally the HSMP will state the overall framework that the project will use (think Provincial regulations) whereas the PSSP will be on a more focused level, specifying required courses for each position on site. There may be training matrices for each level, but generally the HSMP will be more generic (Project) with the PSSP being used as the primary document focusing on each position (Position).
The normal path of completion and submission will require orientations from both project and prime contractor, certification submission for required elements from subcontractors to prime, then site specific orientations upon arrival on site. This may vary, with only one orientation presented as a combined owner/prime/site presentation, for example, and would then become the onboarding/startup element that would be mandatory for all workers on the project.
The required training that each project prescribes will most often be the industry norms, like the Construction Safety Training System (CSTS), Pipeline Construction Safety Training (PCST), and First Aid AED/CPR. These types of courses are often already in place for workers who are at a COR (Certificate of Recognition) certified company and are easily accessed online.
Once we start taking a more detailed look at the various position requirements, we start to identify additional prerequisites, based on what the individuals will be doing at site, and this requires additional training. Fall Arrest, Supervisor, Rigging and Hoisting, Flagging, are all types of training that are position specific and may be required by multiple positions to comply with the PSSP.
It is important to clarify who requires the training and at what level. There are multiple variations of First Aid: Emergency or Standard; Levels 1,2,3; Equivalencies across training such as Standard w/AED CPR vs Level 1 and it requires a clear understanding of the expectations and must be discussed with all parties, prior to having workers begin the training.
Another area that training will be required is for follow-up on corrective actions after an incident. This type of training is usually developed ad hoc by the prime contractor and implemented into the training requirements for ALL workers on site and any workers that are added to the project going forward. The problem with this type of “training” is that it’s at a general awareness level, may not be applicable to the worker’s position and done for “compliance” purposes. Tracking this training is very cumbersome as there isn’t any formal process for placing it into a HSMS, with a sign-in sheet your only record of training for your workers.
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