TORONTO, March 7, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Canadian government's close scrutiny of construction site safety has brought a renewed attention to the construction industry, particularly their safety training.
360training recently launched www.CanadaSafetyCampus.com, a new portal for online safety training in Canada. Sael Celly, 360training's Manager of International Markets, is betting online training will be a welcomed alternative to costly and inconvenient classroom safety seminars.
"Traditional safety training has always been problematic for this industry. Their priority is getting on the job site and knocking it out quickly," Celly said. "Taking off two or three days to attend a seminar equates to lost time and money."
Time and money is what 360training hopes to save Canada's construction and general industry. CanadaSafetyCampus is a transaction-oriented website where students can demo courses, review learning objectives, enroll, pay for and immediately begin the online safety training. In addition to offering live 24/7 technical support, students can also ask subject matter experts content-related questions.
Canada's safety laws have always had higher standards compared to the U.S. But recently those standards have spawned the Canadian construction industry's "underground economy." This underground economy has grown large enough to catch the attention of Ontario's McGuinty Government.
"The underground economy is a serious drain on Ontario's economy and a major problem in the construction sector," said Labour Minister Steve Peters in a statement issued by his office on Monday.
The statement said Ministry of Labour inspectors now have the power to issue on-site tickets to workers who don't have the required safety certification.
According to Celly, the high cost and inconvenience of traditional classroom safety training is a large part of what attributes to the underground economy.
When Bill C-45 passed in March of 2004, it increased the number of health inspectors, made contractors liable for accidents and increased the size of fines to as high as about one million dollars.
"Contractors and corporation can no longer simply take the chance they won't get inspected," Celly said. "The cost of fines and liability now greatly outweighs the cost of prevention."
Since safety training online exists, the construction trade should be able to easily comply with government regulations without putting an undue burden on itself, not to mention keeping the Canadian construction workforce safe and alive.
"Because our courses are rich with interactive multimedia, the students get immediately assessed. They're more engaged and get a better overall learning experience," said Jeff Leiken, VP of Technical Skills and Safety at 360training.
About 360training:
360training is a leading provider of e-learning technology, content and services helping organizations successfully manage all aspects of learning initiatives. Headquartered in Austin, Texas -- with its subsidiary training outfit L&K International in Toronto, Ontario -- the company's products and services are designed to streamline career education and compliance requirements in a wide variety of industries. For more information, visit www.360training.com.
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