November 16, 2011

Government figures say the country is slowing crawling out from under the Great Recession. But some companies -- and maybe yours is one of them - still aren't feeling the recovery.

In tough economic times, it can be tempting to let safety training go by the wayside. However, that's one of the worst things you can do. Training helps reduce costs by preventing injuries and accidents. It can also help to improve quality and productivity in the workplace.

How do you accomplish safety training when the budget's really tight? One way is to work with other companies to get your (and their) safety training accomplished.

Create an ingrained culture of safety in your workplace. Join us on November 30 for Safety Training: Implement Effective Worker Education To Boost Compliance and Prevent Injuries. » Learn more

1. Share professional trainers: Professional trainers can be expensive. But they can also provide depth of knowledge that your company doesn't have in-house, and can freshen up your training program.
   
   If you want to bring in a professional trainer, check whether other local companies need the same kind of training. You can split the cost of the trainer and, if you keep it local, you eliminate travel costs. You may even find that one of the companies you team up with has space that can be used for the training, saving you facility rental costs.
   
   Also, when looking for partners for professional training (and other items in this list), don't just look within your own industry: Companies in other industries may also have similar safety training needs.
2. Swap in-house trainers: Your company may have in-house trainers that other companies do not—and vice versa.
   
   If you have complementary training needs, consider swapping trainers in order to get your training done. The caveat here is that you want to make sure that there are clear expectations (hours, number of times you'll swap, facilities, materials, etc.) set up so that everyone feels they're getting a fair trade.
3. Set up a sharing library: Some of your training materials may only get used once a year - and the same may be true for other companies. Explore ways you may be able to share these materials.
   
   Related to this is cooperative purchasing. If you're a small company and can't reach discount levels, see if you can team with other small companies in the same boat and purchase materials together. You may also want to look into this when purchasing safety equipment, too. Remember though, both with sharing and purchasing, to respect any ordering and use policies of your partner companies.
4. Exchange ideas: Knowledge is power, and knowing where to purchase safety training materials at a good price, where to find reasonably priced trainers, and where to find free training can all stretch your budget. Work with other companies, particularly local ones, to share information that can save everyone money. You may want to set up a simple Facebook or blog page for this purpose.