Can Hybrid Learning Work for Gas Safety Training Programs Post Pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic changed how everything worked around the world. We saw a drastic shift from brick and mortars systems to online businesses. Everything went digital in almost every industry. Those who couldn’t be flexible or adapt to this change were shut down or went bankrupt.

This pandemic turned millions of businesses from rags to riches and vice versa, depending on well the businesses adapted to the new ways of working. While for corporate offices, the change was easy, but skill-based industries struggled to keep things working.

There were a lot of industries that took a massive hit in this pandemic, and Gas Industry was one of them, according to TechRepublic. The Labor industry, without a doubt, faced a tough time during this pandemic since everything went online. The industrial workplaces were stuck with the uncertain economic situation and new working guidelines.

So the question is, where everything went digital, could the gas industries do the same? Can they hold Gas Safety Training program keeping a safe distancing environment? Could the gas companies train their employees in a hybrid learning system, so they can issue the gas certificate and perform other routine procedures in a safe environment?

We have answered all these questions below on how you can implement hybrid learning for gas safety training programs.

Hybrid Learning Work for Gas Safety Training Programs

When the initial order of workplace shutdowns was given, all the skilled labor companies were in a state of shock on how to proceed with their certification program that was essentially needed to keep everything going smoothly.

Let us face it, and the more people spend time at home, the more they got into cooking and extracurricular home projects, which meant the teams needed to be on their toes on how to carry out procedures safely because accidents are bound to happen anyways.

Let us say a family is having a small BBQ dinner on a Sunday night, and there is a gas leak, and the gas companies need to have their staff ready to be dispatched to the site to contain the leaks and fix the problem.

But the question is, how to train them with all these new government protocols and social distancing measures? Below we have mentioned a road map that can be used for hybrid learning for gas safety training programs.

Road Map for Hybrid Learning

You can take the following steps for hybrid learning for gas safety programs during the pandemic:

• First thing first, look at your state, federal and local jurisdiction laws. For example, if you are operating in Canada, you might want to look at Oil and Gas Drilling Regulation laws and the training laws of the state as well.
• Send out screening guidelines to those who have enrolled in the program via text, email, or phone.
• Screen the participants to anticipate who can take online training and who needs in-person training.
• Before the staff enters the facility, you must screen them for temperature.
• Make sure you make the participants aware of all the signs and symptoms of the coronavirus and make them understand that if they were to incur any symptom, they are to immediately seek help and leave the premises.
• If you hold a training session in a group of twelve, you might want to break that group into two and hold the session for six people per session.
• When you are training the group at a physical workplace, you want to make sure that social distancing is followed. So make sure there is a distance of at least six feet when physically training the labor at a particular location.
• Another thing you need to keep in mind is that the training staff is not sharing any equipment.
• Make sure your staff is wearing masks and gloves at all times. This should be mandatory and a rule that cannot be compromised.
• You can also hold a webinar and online certification programs for participants. In the case of online training, you need to be very careful with the instructions and also mention all the stuff that would be needed by the participants in their training sessions.
• There are a lot of online gas certification courses given by UK company for example. Similarly, a lot of gas companies in the USA and Canada are also offering online training programs with a hybrid approach to training.

While we have mentioned a roadmap for a hybrid learning system for the gas training programs, we also would highlight a few elements that are exclusively important for virtual training sessions.

Important Elements for Hybrid Learning

• The instructor must be able to see the participant’s skill set and verify what he/she is proficient in so a professional certificate can be issued.
• With a hybrid learning approach, you need to make sure there are no scheduling conflicts as well.
• The participant, when learning things virtually, needs to make sure that he has access to the appropriate equipment.
• The Gas company also needs to make sure that the equipment that the participant is learning on is up-to-date with no faults and is returned to the company in due time.
• An instructor can also use an AED approach to monitor and facilitate hybrid learning.
• With a hybrid learning training approach, the company usually drops the equipment at the participant’s stated address and, after the completion of the course, picks it up as well.
• Once the enrolled participant has the equipment, the rest of the training is either done through facetime or any other online video platform like zoom.

Conclusion

A lot of industries went into bankruptcy because they were not flexible enough to learn and adapt to the new ways of working.

Training during the pandemic was reduced overall to ensure the wellbeing and safety of the employees. While we have given all the guidelines that trainers can use in their hybrid learning programs, but it depends on the training how effectively he/she can implement it and ensure material as well as human safety in the meanwhile.