We work with a lot of clients to create EHS training materials, along with other types of training. And the EHS part is not just about training the company’s employees. In addition, we create solutions to help our customers provide site-specific safety orientations to their contractors, visitors, and vendors. Providing contractor orientations is an important aspect of contractor management, but it’s just one element. As a result, we’ve pulled together this quick overview of best practices for contractor management. Give it the once-over, see what you think, and please leave your own thoughts, suggestions, and insights at the bottom in the comments section. Convergence Training is a training solutions provider. We make EHS training materials, including our Contractor LMS for managing site-specific contractor orientations. We can make your own custom orientation materials, too. Contact us to learn more or set up a demo. Since you’re here, why not download our free Buyers Guide for Online Contractor Orientation Management Systems? Seven Aspects of Effective Contractor Management We’re going to present seven different aspects of effective contractor management. Those steps are: This seven-phase overview is based on a five-phase overview presented in the National Safety Council/Campbell Institute document Best Practices in Contractor Management. It also matches what a lot of companies do in the real world. As with other materials from the Campbell Institute, their document is very nice and well presented, and we encourage you to read it in full. We’re not going to cover everything they do, and they don’t cover everything we’ll talk about, so it won’t be a waste of your time if you read this article and then read the second article as well. 1. Contractor Prequalification The first piece of the contractor management puzzle is contractor pre-qualification. This means carefully checking out a contractor before you hire the contractor to work for you. There are three main components to this: Let’s take a quick look at each. Will you require a prequalification or not? Most companies DO perform some type of prequalification check and, in layman’s terms, you’re playing with fire if you don’t. In some cases, companies prequalify companies other for certain jobs that have been assessed as riskier than others. Will you do it yourself or have a third party do it? You can do this yourself, but it can be a lot of work. As a result, there are companies out there who’ll do it for you. According to the Campbell Institute report, 10 of the 14 companies in their study used a third party to do this. (1) One such company offers an analysis of the ROI of contractor prequalification. Another such company gives some reasons why companies consider third-party contractor management services. What should you check? You can check lots of things, not just their EHS record. The Campbell Institute document offers some interesting insight here. They say that although their study participants have formal guidelines that say pre-qualification should focus on "financial soundness, technical ability, management capability, and health and safety performance," the factors the companies consider most are "contractors’ management and technical capability, past experience and performance, reputation, and proposed work methods. Environment, health, and safety ranked only about tenth in a list of important criteria in the literature review, and ranked even lowerin the surey results." (2) In addition, "A survey of those in the construction industry asked participants to rank the importance of ‘site organization, rules, and policies (health and safety, etc.)’ in awarding contracts. Though this particular factor was never ranked below 13 out of 37 for any type of project, the most consistently highly ranked factor was ‘ability to complete on time.'" (3) So, that’s not to say companies don’t evaluate safety/EHS when prequalifying contractors, but one might make the argument that it should be considered more of a priority than it is. But exactly what EHS factors do companies consider during prequalification? In evaluating safety/EHS, according to Campbell, "all of the members in the study assess contractors on their safety statistics, such as Experience Modification Rate (EMR), Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR), fatality rate, DART, and other OSHA recordable." The companies also check other safety metrics-for example, one "looks at a contractor’s TRIR as compared to an applicable NAICS code, worker compensation claims, injury logs, environmental reports and regulatory citations." (4) 2. Pre-job Risk Assessment and Task/Job Hazard Analysis The next aspect of contractor management is performing a risk assessment for the worked to be performed. Typically, this is done by assessing risk in some type of risk matrix, like the one shown below. Minor Serious Major Catastrophic/Critical Very Likely Probable Possible Unlikely Rare The risk matrix above considers probability and severity. The Campbell Institute document and survey found companies using other criteria as well, including "severity, frequency, and probability" and "incident likelihood, severity, cost, schedule, security, and other factors." (5) You can use a risk matrix that seems right for you and includes what you think it should include. For more information on risk management, risk assessment, and risk matrixes, see our Safety and Risk Management article. Some companies do the risk assessment for the job before considering pre-qualification, and require pre-qualifications only for work that meets or exceeds a certain amount of risk (while, obviously, not requiring pre-qualification for jobs with lower levels of assesses risk). Other companies don’t base pre-qualification on the risk assessment, but make additional requirements for jobs with higher levels of assessed risk, such as "…hazardous job meetings….job walk throughs…(or exploring) different methods for completing the job." (6) 3. Contractor Training Contractor training (different than contractor orientations, which we’ll discuss below) is generally the responsibility of the contractor company. In short, the contractor company should ensure that their employees receive appropriate safety training. According to the Campbell Institute document, one company "stipulates that contractors are responsible for the training of their employees," a second company "requires leaders to complete a 30-hour OSHA course and all other contracted personnel to complete a 10-hour OSHA course before beginning work," and at a third company, "contractors must provide health and safety training." (7) Presumably, this is one of the things that’s checked during pre-qualification, so it’s not just injury/illness rates. Click here for a free Guide to Effective EHS Training. 4. Contractor Orientation Contractor orientation is not the same thing as contractor training (which we just discussed above). As a best practice, organizations should and DO require contract employees to complete some form of site-specific contractor safety orientation. Going back to the Campbell Institute document again, we learn that "all organizations require safety orientation and skills training of contractors…" and that "all organizations also require special permits or training for specific kinds of work, including (but not limited to) confined space entry, electrical work, hot work, energy control, forklifts, elevated work, etc."  (8) In my own real-world experience, which is echoed by what the Campbell document says (9), there are (at least) three ways to do this: Hold orientations in-person and onsite Manage orientations via an internal online system, including delivering at least some of the orientation material online Deliver orientations via an external online system accessible via the Internet (and a contractor-specific username/password), including delivering at least some of the orientation material online Since this contractor orientation aspect of contractor management best practices is what’s truly in the Convergence Training wheelhouse, let’s take a closer look at this. In particular, three things people don’t understand about contractor orientations or some misconceptions related to them. Misconception #1 One common misconception is this has to be an "either/or" decision, but that’s not true. For example, you can use an online system to administer your contractor orientation, deliver some of your orientation materials online (on your own intranet or on the Internet), and deliver other parts of your orientation materials in person at your own site. Misconception #2 A second common misconception (closely related to the first), is that online contractor orientation management systems do nothing other than deliver online orientation materials. Again, that’s not the case. These systems cover all aspects of administering the training for you, plus you can use them to administer in-person/field-based/classroom-style orientations as well as online orientation materials. Misconception #3 And a third common misconception is that instructor-led, classroom-style orientations are "better" or "more effective" learning experiences than online orientations. Again, that’s not true, and there’s evidence to show this. Research shows that training in any method (such as instructor-led or online) can be equally effective or more effective, depending on the circumstances. And in some cases, online training is more effective than instructor-led.We won’t go into these points in detail here, but if you’re curious for more information, check out the classic book Evidence-Based Training Methods: A Guide for Training Professionals by the highly respected learning expert Dr. Ruth Colvin Clark (the book includes the research-based data I mentioned earlier) and/or read our article that lists some times when e-learning is actually the better choice than instructor-led/face-to-face training. If you’re interested in learning more about online contractor orientation management systems, you can download our free Guide to Online Contractor Orientation Management. 5. Sub-Contractor Hiring, Management, and Training Most companies rely on the general contractor to hire, manage, train (or ensure the training) of sub-contractors. According to the Campbell Institute document, "The majority of research participants (10/14) specify that the general contractor is in charge of hiring subcontractors and managing their safety. In these situations, subcontractors are held to the same standards as general contractors, but it is the general contractor’s responsibility to apply those standards." (10) Because this responsibility falls on the general contractor, it’s yet another reason to choose general contractors carefully, and (it seems to me) it’s something that should be vetted during the pre-qualification process. Of course, all subcontractors should still complete any site-specific contractor orientations, just as contractors do, and as discussed immediately above. 6. On-the-Job Observation Another standard best practice is some form of periodic observation of ongoing work. According to the Campbell Institute, this "varies from daily checklists and/or safety talks to weekly walkthroughs, monthly and yearly assessments." In addition to monitoring real work conditions, the Campbell Institute also notes that "the maintenance of incident logs is also crucial to monitoring contractor safety during a project." (11) As you’d expect, most companies have some form of policy for dealing with on-the-job infractions. 7. Post-work Evaluation Performing some form of evaluation after the work is over is considered to be best practice. However, according to the Campbell Institute document, although this is considered the right thing to do, it doesn’t happen that often-" Only five [of fifteen] participants have a post-job evaluation or specific guidelines for contractor requalification." (12) Some methods of performing these evaluations and/or uses of post-job evaluations include: Using post-job evaluations when evaluating contractor for future jobs Assessing safety records of companies at end of year or end of contractor period Including safety, customer service, and quality of finished work in post-job evaluation Performing safety and operation inspections for every process change, enhancement, or facility improvement that’s not "routine" and compiling these for the post-job evaluation Recording all incidents associated with a contractor for use in post-work evaluations Looking at the number of claims from contractors to determine if work was done safely Reviewing contractors’ records of effectiveness of safety orientation and training (testing, observation an injury rates, etc.) (13) Based on the findings in the Campbell Institute document, the post-job evaluation phase seems to be the aspect of Contractor Management that’s most in need of improvement and standardization. Conclusion: Best Practices for Contractor Management As you see, this is still a dynamic subject area and best practices are still being formed. But if you make sure you’re covering each of the seven aspects listed above, your contractor management program will be well served. We invite you to share your own thoughts, experiences, and practices below. What do you do for contractor management? How well has it worked? What have been some big successes for you, some challenges, and maybe even some failures? What are you thinking of doing differently in the future? Hope you enjoyed this article. Don’t forget to download the free guide to online contactor orientation systems included below.   Notes: (1) Best Practices for Contractor Management, National Science Council/Campbell Institute, p. 7 (retrieved on 2/4/2016 from http://www.thecampbellinstitute.org/research) (2) Campbell Institute, p 3. (3) Campbell Institute, p 3. This quote references a study and article titled "Multi-criteria selection or lowest price? Investigation of UK construction clients’ tender evaluation preferences" that appeared in Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 8(4), 257-271. (4) Campbell Institute, p. 3. (5) Campbell Institute, p. 8. (6) Campbell Institute, p. 8. (7) Campbell Institute, p. 9. (8) Campbell Institute, p. 9. (9) Campbell Institute, p. 9. (10) Campbell Institute, p. 9. (11) Campbell Institute, p. 10. (12) Campbell Institute, p. 12. (13) Campbell Institute, p. 12. The post Best Practices for Contractor Management and Contractor Orientations appeared first on Convergence Training Blog.

How do you make sense of your work? Many of us subscribe to newspapers, magazines, web feeds, blogs, and other forms of push information. In themselves, these are low sense-making activities and often are difficult to share, due to digital rights management restrictions, or because of the format. I use Feedly to organize my web feeds and Diigo to capture what I find on the web. The key is to subscribe to a diverse assortment of perspectives and opinions. I read a lot of books and write reviews to share with others. I share some things on LinkedIn but use it mostly to loosely connect with others. Twitter lets me connect with many people but the 140 character limit restricts the depth of conversations. I learn a lot through my client work but do not share most of it, as it is often confidential. I learn much from conversations with my peers around the world, as we can dig deep on issues during one-on-one talks. I also have confidential discussions in closed communities of practice (CoP) using platforms like Slack or Skype. From all of these sources I am able to work out loud on my blog and discern what I can share and when. Over time, my blog connects it all together. I suggest that all professionals look at their seeking knowledge, sense-making, and sharing practices and see what they can improve. This is the  focus of the PKM in 40 Days online workshop.

"The public has concluded that our 20th century institutions are incapable of dealing with 21st century challenges." - Washington Post Read more on TIMN Richard Florida just posted an excellent series of tweets reflecting on the above article in The Washington Post. I have put these together for easier reading: "Very interesting take about what is happening in the US presidential election. The basic thesis is that the election is occurring at a time of epochal economic, demographic & social change. This is the decline of the industrial order & the working class (& related stable institutions) & the rise of the new post-industrial one. This is ripping apart our class structure and social order in a variety of ways, underpinning rising inequality & economic divides. People/ voters have lost faith not only in politics but in governing institutions & are looking for alternatives. I have elsewhere written that Great Resets (like the one we are going through) are gradual evolutionary events. Looking back in time, we think the adjustments are quick & automatic. But the lags are long, especially for the creation of new political institutions that can adjust to & moderate fundamental economic change. FDR, the New Deal & the postwar Golden Age of the middle class occurred about a century or more after the rise of large scale industry. The depth of dissatisfaction & the scope of the Great Political/Policy Reset is massive. We are dealing with an enormous shift from an industrial order which created a largely white male working class to a new knowledge economy. In this sense it is not surprising that Rob Ford (the precursor to Trumpism) emerged in Toronto a model post-industrial city. We are going through the dealigment phase - the tearing down of old institutions - that occurs for any realignment. This dealignment phase is volatile, unpredictable & dangerous. Odd things (like the rise of Rob Ford) can happen. The far right has been better at mobilizing around fear than the progressive left has at creating an inclusive vision of the future. This is why Trumpism is so different than Sanders. Trumpism is reactionism, while Sanders can help point the way to a better future. It would also seem to open a lane for Bloomberg as someone who has managed these transformations in NYC. Big takeaway is that the old political order is finally starting to break down under the weight of these economic transformations. America has always led the world in finding ways to realign its political structures in ways that leverage big economic transformations. Now is the test of whether it can do so again … That will require a progressive, inclusive vision of a post-industrial knowledge economy where everyone is included & rewarded. To get beyond Trumpism requires a vision of a post-industrial society which goes beyond just crass materialism. To my mind, such a progressive agenda turns on the recognition that every single human being is creative. And that developing economic & social structure to harness the full creativity of each is the key to creating real meaning & purpose." This reflects my own thoughts on platform capitalism and the post job economy and that we need to create new institutions and structures for the emerging network era in order to avoid turmoil during this period of transition. Focusing politicians, educators, and business on fostering  creativity is key.  

The warm ocean water rushed over my feet.  I scanned the beach and prayed that the Lord would show Himself through His creation.  The water retreated and my eyes focused on part of a sand...Continue Reading »

Here are some key questions to pose to students at the onset of your course: How much time do you have to devote to this course? How much focused effort can you apply to this course?...Continue Reading »

Are you curious about how workforce gamification functions in today’s modern workplace? In this short video, GamEffective shows you how the platform can be used for on-boarding, learning and compliance training for new products or systems, and for sales and support processes. The dashboard you see in the video is a GameEffective widget which was specifically designed to help guide employees through their day to meet KPIs. Employees can see their current scores and view a section called "Next Best Action" to view the next recommended task which needs to be completed. Tasks, which can be configured in the GamEffective system, can come in many forms including trivia quizzes, simulations and online scavenger hunts. Each employee will increase their score or earn coins by completing tasks. Badges are awarded and can easily be shared over the internal social feed which has been shown to increase engagement and motivation. Taking employee motivation and the desire to succeed one step further, management can set up dashboards so employees can see how they rank against colleagues, team members or the whole company.

Knomadix is a new suite of apps that are designed to help teachers and school districts easily digitize their already existing curriculum.  Imagine a teacher being able to turn a traditional paper worksheet into an engaging digital activity, or a curriculum developer being able to convert all of an analog curriculum into a digital format. ​ Find out more about the app on our reviews page!

I love when Google adds features to any of its products, but especially Google Forms. If you read this post, you’ll understand my affection for Google Forms. I’m a bit of a Google Form geek This article from Tech Crunch prompted me to do some exploring. Here’s a quick breakdown[Read more] The post Great Additions to Google Forms appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

As I wrote earlier, once the student becomes better acquainted with the research area, it will probably become necessary to slightly revise the original research question. There could be several reasons for this, but largely this is because the review of the previous academic literature on the subject has helped to clarify what the academic community already knows about the topic and what still remains to be discovered. Hopefully this will result in minor adjustments, rather than huge changes of emphasis, but it is important to recognise that this is an ongoing process which will require a bit of settling down. For some people, in certain subject areas, this settling-down process will take longer than others, and a crucial resource to help the process along is - surprise, surprise - the research supervisor! It might seem obvious, but when the research student becomes enmeshed in the research problem, it seems that sometimes they forget to communicate effectively with their supervisor(s). While I always emphasise that the research project belongs to the student, the supervisor also has a very direct interest in the success of the study, and regular discussions between the student and the supervisor are essential. The definition of ‘regular’ can be a bit loose. Does this mean weekly, or monthly, or what? In practice, meetings are usually closer together at the start and towards the end of the PhD, and a bit further apart during the middle period when the student is really getting into the data-gathering and analysis. Perhaps meetings might be every 2-3 weeks at the start, to help orientate the student and discuss the broad plans, and about the same in the later stages to discuss feedback on the writing as each chapter gets produced. Normally I like to meet every 6-7 weeks in the middle phases of the study, just to keep on top of what the student is working on at that time. Similarly, the word ‘discussion’ can be a rather misused term. I don’t just mean quick chats in the corridor or tea-room, and I don’t mean that the student is brought in to hear a monologue from the supervisor. Discussion means both parties exchanging their views. There needs to be a level of trust developed - trust that the student’s half-formed thoughts and ideas can be shared and developed; trust, too, that the supervisor has the student’s best interests at heart and will give detailed feedback which is both supportive and useful. The student is learning the business of advanced research, so it is unrealistic to expect perfection from the outset, yet many students are reluctant to share their ideas and their writing with their supervisor, perhaps in apprehension of looking inadequate. This is completely the wrong attitude. As a supervisor, I cannot give advice unless the student tells me what they are thinking; I cannot give written comment or suggestions until a student submits some text for me to read. The more I learn of how the research project is developing, the more I can share my own thoughts and expertise. After each formal meeting I get the student to email me a half-page summary of what we have discussed and agreed. No-one else need see this summary, but it is a useful record to look back upon as the research project evolves. The effective research supervisor should be both approachable and knowledgeable, and ideally is the best "critical friend" that a research student could have. For a bit of light-hearted reinforcement of this almost symbiotic relationship, check the parable at http://www.cosy.sbg.ac.at/~held/fun/thesis_advisor.txt Don’t say you have not been warned!

It has been a very busy and rewarding start to the month for Filtered. We first attended Learning Technologies (Olympia, London), where we showcased our personalized approach to learning and ran a seminar on today's learners with benchmarking agency Towards Maturity. We then attended the Learning Awards (The Dorchester, London), where - all suited and booted - we were announced double-award winners (read the press release).