Published August 2001

AdvanceOnline offers safety training via Internet

By John Wolcott
Herald Business Journal Editor

Employees soon will be turning to the Internet for even more of their training needs, and AdvanceOnline in Seattle is ready for the anticipated demand.

Businesses that study these types of trends all agree that demand will be significant. For example, The Gartner Group anticipates 60 percent of all corporations will have an online learning management system in place by 2003. And International Data Corp. of Framington, Mass., forecasts e-learning will become a $14 billion industry by 2004.

Internet-based computer training isn't the answer to everything, but it's increasingly an option that saves businesses time, money and a lot of scheduling hassles. Now even the construction industry is turning to the Web for training that once was limited to out-of-town classes or seminars.

Even if online classes need to be supplemented with hands-on experience — such as actually driving a forklift through a warehouse after learning about forklift safety on the Internet — the advantages of online education are becoming more apparent.

Consider the need for workers' safety education, for instance. Across the nation, job safety statistics on fatalities and disabling accidents are trending upward, according to the National Safety Council, rising at an alarming rate over the past eight years.

To help curb that trend, AdvanceOnline of Ballard, founded by Hart Crowser in 1997, has just added online training for construction workers to its catalog of Internet-based courses. The 10-hour construction safety class, which meets the equivalent requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's construction regulations course, is under review by the federal agency to become part of its approved curriculum.

"We find a lot of people already have had basic instructor-led classroom training, but our clients want the next level, and they understand the online savings in travel, hotel expenses and such. Then there are those who are too busy. Online training doesn't take them away from production," said Fay Lim, Marketing and Communications Manager for AdvanceOnline.

"But you can't rely on an online forklift safety course for everything. OSHA still requires a supervisor to observe the person operating a forklift after the online course before he's certified for the training. A blend of online training and classroom (or hands-on training) works well. Also, online training courses are often more current because it's easier to update them on the Web than burning new CDs and distributing them," she said.

Lim said employee responses to the training include such comments as "quick and easy to use ... at my pace"; "I was amazed by it"; "I liked being able to do the course when I had time in my day"; and "covers the basics in a dynamic, easy way ... excellent introduction to OSHA regulations."

Recognizing the importance of online training, AdvanceOnline has become a leader in providing Web-based education solutions to help organizations comply with environmental, transportation, and occupational safety and health regulations.

"So far, no companies in Snohomish County are using the programs," Lim said, "but we expect great interest once we receive OSHA's approval that our 10-hour construction course meets their regulations. Then we can issue OSHA 10-hour certificates of completion cards."

The company partners with corporations, associations, government agencies and other training providers to design, develop and deploy its Online Institutes (http://institute.advanceonline.com). The expanding network of Web-based training sites is designed to help create safer workplaces and assist businesses in complying with mandated safety training and certification requirements of national and state regulatory agencies.

Partnering trade associations include Associated General Contractors of America and the American Chemistry Council; corporations such as Agilent Technologies' Heartstream Operation in Seattle; and government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The newest safety program, developed for the construction industry, includes 10 hours of training that features sessions on an introduction to OSHA, fall protection, scaffolds, ladder safety, electrical safety, materials handling, excavations, personal protective equipment, forklift safety and how to work properly in permit-required confined spaces.

"AdvanceOnline understands the construction industry and OSHA regulations," said Ambrose Bittner, Vice President of Product Development for the company. "We have combined our expertise in compliance and instructional design to focus on the needs of the construction companies and their workers."

The impetus for forming AdvanceOnline began several years ago when Hart Crowser, a Seattle-based environmental consulting and remediation engineering firm, found its employees needed constant education and certification to comply with state and federal regulations.

In 1996, to reduce employee education travel expenses, the company began creating its own online training programs. The classes were so successful that the company realized other companies facing similar challenges might be interested in the online training it had developed.

In 1997, Hart Crowser incorporated AdvanceOnline as a separate company and began promoting its interactive Internet training programs.

Recently, AdvanceOnline left the space it shared with Hart Crowser to move to its own offices in Ballard's Salmon Bay Center near the Lake Washington Ship Canal. Last February, Los Angeles-based Knowledge Universe invested $7 million in AdvanceOnline, enabling the company to expand its course catalog, improve its delivery system and increase the marketing of its services.

More than 100 courses are offered, with new ones added monthly. The course offerings, available at the company's Web site, include sessions on asbestos, electricity, excavation safety, hazardous wastes, ergonomics and protection from noise hazards.

Partners working with AdvanceOnline to promote online training include Hart Crowser (www.hartcrowser.com); Moxie Media (www.moxiemedia.com) and Region X's OSHA Training Institute Education Center (http://depts.washington.edu/ehce/).

This fall, AdvanceOnline will be demonstrating its construction safety education programs at the Governor's Industrial Safety and Health Conference 2001 in Seattle, Sept. 26-27, at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center.

For more information, contact Lim by sending mail to AdvanceOnline Inc., Salmon Bay Center, 5305 Shilshole Ave. NW, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98107, by calling 206-826-4000, by sending e-mail to contact-us@advanceonline.com or by visiting the company's Web site, www.advanceonline.com.

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