It’s clear that 2020 changed the way we work. Every industry was impacted by shutdowns, work-from-home mandates, or new safety protocols. As we move into a new year, companies will be tasked with navigating a new working landscape and ensuring the safety of customers and employees.
When surveyed, a mere one in five CFO’s said they believed their companies could resume “business as usual” within a month if the crisis ended today. Many pointed to the financial impacts tied to reopening the office while ensuring employee safety. To confidently return to work we will need to take certain measures and precautions to help businesses remain open and keep people feeling safe.
In the past, businesses have held conferences, seminars or workshops for necessary training, but that is not possible in our current world. Luckily, new options such as virtual education are emerging.
Virtual Training for Employees
Many businesses today are more aware of infections and the spreading of disease. When we return to work, we may feel the need to return quickly, but it will be important to be intentional with how we go back. So what can you do now to help things go smoothly when offices reopen?
Since the pandemic began, virtual training has made leaps to meet this need, and many options are out there now that didn’t exist a year ago. This provides a safe, convenient and affordable way to get everyone on the same page and armed with the same knowledge.
COVID-19 made us realize there is a lot to improve on when it comes to slowing the spread of disease in the workplace. Businesses want employees to feel safe returning to work and it will take a collective effort from everyone to make that happen. Look for ways to arm your employees with the necessary knowledge and tools to help in this effort. New virtual training options provide a way to apply practical skills and critical thinking in interactive 360 video scenarios.
Additionally, the world we live in is unpredictable and schedules are even harder to manage than they were before. Virtual courses don’t add to the stress. The flexibility allows for employees to take the courses when it’s best for them and even break them up so they don’t have to complete the course all at once.
Virtual training is also more cost-effective than traditional training seminars and it’s easily scalable. Instead of hiring a professional and booking a large venue or conference room, you can now just send the course directly to the device of your employee’s choosing.
It can feel nerve-wracking returning to work during a global pandemic, but with the right education, everyone can feel comfortable and safe as we get back to working in person.
Tackling New Compliance Rules
Not surprisingly, with a global pandemic come new regulations that we all need to be familiar with to avoid future spread and continued shutdowns. OSHA has released a new mandatory rule requiring employers in many states to have an exposure risk assessment and infection control plan in place for their employees. OSHA states:
“Employers should adopt infection control strategies based on a thorough hazard assessment, using appropriate combinations of engineering and administrative controls, safe work practices, and personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent worker exposures. Some OSHA standards that apply to preventing occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 also require employers to train workers on elements of infection prevention, including PPE.”
You’ll have to make sure and check off each item on their list to remain compliant, which might feel overwhelming at first, but virtual training can be a huge help here!
Virtual infection prevention training ensures you are in compliance with OSHA’s rules and CDC’s guidelines while keeping your employees safe and healthy at work.
As we begin exploring when and how we will begin returning to work, one thing we know is that it will be different than before COVID-19. We are more aware of public health and the measures needed to keep us all healthy and safe. Virtual training can help us all get back to work in our new world.
Infection Prevention Training for TAO Members
- 6-months access to Shift’s full Infection Prevention Course Library = $25 per employee
- TAO Members only: 1 free user for every 9 enrolled
- Shift is donating 10% of every dollar to support layoff aversion grants for small businesses
—Written by Maggie Hubbell, Co-Founder & COO, Shift
About Shift
Shift is defining the future of education and training through the use of cutting edge virtual reality. Shift provides VR and AI-based training to allow people to recognize their own biases and gain tools to address it and track lasting change and progress.
A women-founded technology company, Shift draws on 35+ years of research and experience in equity and immersive technology to deliver highly effective training and learning outcomes at scale. We bring together the software, hardware, and support needed to deliver our safe and innovative proprietary training methodology.
