Dr. Marilyn Hubner | Founder and Director | BuildUp Research

As a consultant and training specialist, it is not often that Marilyn gets to consult, develop and deliver safety training programs that make a difference. However, recently Marilyn had a client (a National Materials Handling Company) that wanted to challenge and change the normal training that was provided to their health and safety committee members.

Marilyn developed a blended learning solution that provided opportunity for a new safety qualification.

Knowing that Safety qualifications under the current regime are quite general, and the competency requirements can be overbearing for many workers, Marilyn partnered with an online learning provider, to develop small modules of knowledge that the participants worked through, prior to attending the face-to-face workshops. These workshops were designed by Marilyn, in consultation with the Safety team and managers within the organisation. The workshops contained a variety of practical exercised that challenged the workers understanding of safety principles. In total there were three 2-day workshops and 9 online modules to complete.

The program has been delivered to the committee members in Victoria, Sydney and Brisbane. The participants across the States have all identified improvements to individual tasks, processes and best of all safety system documentation and application.

As a result of the training the participants have felt empowered and confident to work with their peers to improve safety performance. “As a trainer, it is rare when you get such a positive response to a long-term safety training program.”

The program was recognised by the Australian Institute Training and Development (AITD) as a finalist in the blended learning section of their National Awards.