Archive for the ‘Safety Training’ Category

« Older Entries

A Time to Teach

Friday, January 27th, 2012

Despite tough economic times the United States is still the leading manufacturing nation in the world. This past Tuesday night President Barak Obama spoke to millions of viewers in his State of Union address. In his speech he reminded the American public that manufacturing has long been the backbone of the American economy and if invested in, the industry can boost our economy back to stability. While there have been struggles over the past years, the percent of GDP that manufacturing fills has remained nearly the same for more than 30 years. Businesses also provide a great portion of taxes that help run state and local governments and manufacturing is in close second, contributing nearly 20% of business taxation.

With the government taking a stand on improving the manufacturing industry and employers becoming more confident when it comes to hiring, a chance to train presents itself. Initial training and retraining are equally important when it comes to industrial skills. Manufacturing laborers often work in a wide variety of areas within the plant and without proper training it is almost certain they will not be able to perform their job safely or correctly. By allowing your workforce to improve their industrial skills and expand their expertise you’re giving them a chance to help themselves and your business.

ITC Learning is dedicated to providing quality courseware to help train your industrial employees. The goal of any industrial training skills program is to minimize downtime and maximize productivity, but at ITC Learning we take industrial skills training a step further by offering not only safety and mechanical training but also process training, control training, boiler training and much more. In an unsure time there is one thing you should be sure confident in, and that is the capabilities and the talent of your team. By providing comprehensive courseware that includes animations, audio and interactive exercises trainees receive a well-rounded learning experience. Additionally, all ITC content has undergone a thorough SME review to ensure accuracy and can be tailored to your business. Contact ITC Learning today to find out how interactive online courseware can increase your bottom line.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhots.net & Stuart Miles

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Mechanical Training, Plant Training, Safety Training, Training Classes | No Comments »

South Korea’s Samsung Group to Create Thousands of Industrial Jobs

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

On Tuesday the Samsung Group, an electronics firm headquartered in South Korea, announced they will invest upwards of 47.8 trillion won, which translates to approximately 41.56 billion U.S. dollars, in expansion. They plan to spend this year which will prompt them to hire nearly 26,000 new employees. The electronics conglomerate has proposed to largely invest funds in their new business segment. The group is made up of 66 affiliates which range from electronics to insurance and even finance. In South Korea, the top 30 business groups vowed to invest a collective 151.4 trillion won in 2012 and hire nearly 123,000 new workers.

With new plants come new responsibilities and in many cases new hires as well. All plant developers, owners and managers want their new beginning to run smoothly and profitably. So, in an effort to meet that goal, employing a properly trained workforce can help. Over the years technology has greatly affected process monitoring, control and industrial automation which has in turn helped improve productivity. This is precisely why control training and process training are critical when it comes to educating a new staff. Same goes for hydraulic training, pump training and boiler training.

Since all aspects of the manufacturing industry are constantly changing, we recommend keeping your employees up to date on the newest industrial advances and procedures. Online training courseware, like ITC Learning’s, can make training new employees and re-training your existing staff simple and affordable. Our online courseware was built following the SCORM standards so that we could provide our clients with the most user friendly industrial courseware that could be accessed from anywhere. Not only has SCORM allowed us to offer easily accessible online courseware but it also permits us to deliver courses that are easy to track and update, so you can see the progression of your trainees. Contact ITC Learning today to learn more.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhots.net & Surachai

Posted in Electrical Training, Hydraulic Training, Industrial Training, Plant Training, Pneumatic Training, SCORM, Safety Training, Training Classes | No Comments »

Could Renewable Energy be a Good Source for Industrial Jobs?

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

On Tuesday the Obama administration approved onshore solar and wind farms in the West and pressed for off shore wind power in the Atlantic Ocean, in an attempt to increase renewable energy on each coast. The Interior department approved 300-megawatt solar farm to be placed on public land in Arizona as well as a 200-megawatt wind farm to be located in Southern California. The farms are the 24th and 25th renewable energy projects to be approved for placement on public land within the past two years. The two farms are expected to produce the amount of clean energy equivalent to that of 18 coal fired power plants. Currently developing Arizona’s Sonoran Solar Energy Project is NextEra Energy Resources from Florida. The solar energy farm aims to produce enough energy to power upwards of 90,000 homes.  Iberdrola Renewables, a Spanish based energy company, is heading the Tule Wind Project in California which hopes to produce enough electricity to power approximately 65,000 homes.

Last year, Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar sanctioned the Cape Wind project located in Massachusetts. The project was reviewed federally for several years before being approved and allowing the first offshore wind farm to be built.

Salazar stated on Tuesday they are also moving forward with a massive transmission project that plans to transmit wind energy produced offshore from Virginia to New Jersey. The project would require the construction of high voltage transmission lines along the Atlantic Coast.

Over the years the wind industry has faced some setbacks. Including the failure of Congress to extend a production tax credit and a cash grant program, that has helped advance the industry’s growth in the past. The American Wind Energy Association led a study that found that should Congress not renew the tax credit, almost 37,000 U.S. jobs could potentially be lost.

However, with the two new renewable energy farm projects underway the hope it that they will create U.S. jobs within the industry. And with projects starting fresh, employers have the opportunity to train a well-rounded industrial workforce. ITC Learning offers just that, the materials you need in an easy and accessible format that will enhance the industrial skill sets of your staff as well as ensure the success of your industrial business. With ITC Learning’s online training courseware, content is user friendly and the progress of your trainees can easily be tracked. Contact ITC Learning today to find out how our SCORM based online training courseware can help boost your output.

Image courtesy of Exsodus & FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Manufacturing Training, Plant Training, SCORM, Safety Training, Training Classes | No Comments »

EPA Eases Up on New Boiler Standards

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

On Friday, the Obama administration proposed a plan for the Environmental Protection Agency to ease up on some of the rules which intend to reduce air pollution from industrial boilers and incinerators. Without compromising the health benefits of the proposed regulations, the EPA revised the emissions limits for industrial boilers so that they are more flexible.

The EPA’s top air pollution official, Gina McCarthy, told the press “We have found a way to get better protections, lower emissions and lower costs as well.” With the newest revisions, the EPA’s standards will affect less than 1 percent of U.S. boilers and will cost approximately $1.5 billion less than the original proposal put forth in 2010. Approximately 5,500 of the largest and most polluting boilers in the U.S. will require pollution controls, most of these boilers are located in major refineries and chemical plants. About 195,000 smaller boilers will need routine checkups in order to meet the new standards. The majority of boilers in the U.S., which amounts to almost 1.3 million, are too small and do not release enough pollution to be effected by the rule.

The new rule will most likely require improvements of current pollution controls in chemical plants, refineries and paper mills that may ultimately cost nearly $3 billion. These new standards could potentially put 230,00 jobs at risk however, they may also create a market valued at around $24 billion for companies that offer pollution control services, such as Babcock & Wilcox Co. and the Shaw Group of Baton Rouge, LA.

The standards are intended to benefit the health of Americans and reduce the risk of cancer and asthma, potentially saving as many as 8,100 lives in 2015.

ITC learning offers boiler training in a multimedia format. Our boiler training program focuses on the operation and maintenance of boilers and the safety systems associated with them. Once the Environmental Protection Agency’s new standards are put into effect, proper boiler training will be all the more important in every industrial organization that utilizes boiler equipment. Click here to find out how we can aid your organization in superior boiler training so that you’re well-appointed with properly trained industrial employees before and after the EPA’s new boiler standards are implemented.

Image courtesy of DigitalArt and FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Manufacturing Training, Plant Training, Safety Training, Training Classes | No Comments »

Industrial Training Tips

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

When it comes to training industrial employees, creating a program that is tailored to your organizations specific needs is key. If your training initiatives are not planned with your employees in mind, there’s a good chance you will not achieve your desired outcome. As a manager your priority is to make sure the implemented training program is effective and maximizes your return on investment. Here are a few tips to ensure your goals are met:

Training should be relevant to your organizational needs

The training program that you put in place must relate to the day to day tasks of your employees and should make a distinct connection with the workplace or even your employee’s specific workstation. If this connection is not made, training becomes unrelated and employees are likely to get bored and pay little attention.

Incorporate hands on training

Online courseware, like ITC Leaning’s, is a great way to allow industrial employees to expand their knowledge on their own time and in a comfortable setting. But while reading and doing practice assignments can be helpful, nothing is more beneficial than hands on training. Integrate real life situations into your training program to ensure employee will know what to do when they are no longer reading words but are actually working with industrial equipment. Describing how a process should be done is very different than actually being able to perform the task in a real life scenario, once training is completed.

Spell it out

Your trainees should know exactly what is expected from their training. Explain to your learners how their newly acquired industrial skills will apply to their day to day work. Let them know the basic knowledge they’ll need to have in order to perform well in the training courses and what they are expected to learn from the program as a whole.

Track progress

The only way to know if your industrial training was effective is to follow up. Assess skill sets before and after training to determine if your program was successful. Let your learners know that they will be evaluated on their applied skills once training is over, this may help engage them from the start.

Industrial training is a pertinent aspect of operating an efficient and proficient industrial organization. If not done properly, a lot of time and resources can be wasted. Make sure your goals are well defined and your selected courseware is accurate and up to date. ITC Learning strives to provide superior online courseware for your employees in an effort to improve industrial skills and help your business succeed.

Posted in Electrical Training, Hydraulic Training, Industrial Training, Maintenance Training, Manufacturing Training, Mechanical Training, Plant Training, Pneumatic Training, Safety Training, Skills Testing, Training Classes, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Unemployment Applications Decrease while Manufacturing Jobs Increase

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

The Labor Department reports the number of unemployment applications fell in the first week of November. The number of applications dropped to the lowest level since April 2011. The drop in applications may be an indication that employers are beginning to feel comfortable hiring again. Additionally, the Commerce Department announced the U.S trade deficit reached its lowest point of the year in September 2011. With foreign sales of American machinery reaching an all-time high, the deficit dropped for the 3rd consecutive time by nearly 4% to a grand total of $43.1 billion.

While the hiring outlook has been somewhat grim for a while, Washington D.C. reported that employers added more jobs in August and September than they had originally intended. Industrial employers have posted more jobs in September than at any other time over the past few years.

With a modest economic growth underway, industrial training initiatives are even more crucial.  Manufacturing plants, small and large, must realize the importance of hiring competent employees who are willing and able to not only perform the expected tasks of the job but also take part in tailored training courses. Employees who are eager to learn and advance their industrial skill sets are essential to any industrial business. Technology continues to rapidly evolve and so must your industrial workforce if you plan to maintain a competitive edge. ITC Learning’s online courseware covers all the safety and maintenance basics as well as in depth industrial skills training. Our courseware can be customized to fit your organization’s needs. From control training to air compressor repair to boiler training and even hydraulic training, you can rest easy knowing ITC Learning is an industry leader in providing the most accurate and quality industrial training.

In October, the economy created 80,000 jobs, the fewest added in over four months. However, with unemployment applications going down and manufacturers working to create more jobs a bright future is near. The next step is to create highly skilled and knowledgeable workers to manage your production, increase your efficiency and produce the best quality output for your business. ITC Learning can help you accomplish these goals by utilizing our SCORM based online courseware selected and customized specifically for your business and your employees.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net & M_Bartosch

Posted in Manufacturing Training, Plant Training, Safety Training, Skills Testing, Training Classes, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Ensure Your Employees’ Skills are as Current as Your Equipment

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

As technology continues to evolve the manufacturing industry is sure to follow. Computers and robotics have undoubtedly changed the industry and in some ways made it more accurate and efficient. The Association for Manufacturing Technology and The American Machine Tool Distributors Association reported that in July of this year, manufacturing technology consumption amounted to more than $500 million dollars. The amount shows a 93% increase from July of 2010, when machine tool sales totaled around $260 million. Overall, sales have gone up an astonishing 102.9% from 2010. AMTDA’s president says that the ups and downs of the stock market have had little to no effect on the demand for new machinery in plants. He predicts that eventually this pace will slow as orders are fulfilled, however in the meantime business is booming. Regionally, the Midwest has seen the greatest success with sales reaching $159.26 million. While the Northern region reached just over $75 million. The increase in manufacturing technology consumption may shed a light of hope on the condition of the industry’s economic standing, allowing it to continue to improve and develop more advanced systems.

With machine tool sales doing so well, manufacturers must ensure their employees are properly trained to operate and oversee their updated equipment. Just like the evolution of the industry the training skills of industrial employees must progress as well. ITC Learning is devoted to ensuring your staff is duly trained so they can operate the newest technologies in your plant safely and correctly. Inadequate training can result in injuries in the workplace. While accidents cannot be predicted, together we can do our best to ensure they are prevented. Not only is proper operation of your machinery important to your business’ success but also the maintenance of your tools. ITC’s online industrial training aims to help your staff maintain an advanced knowledge base of new and basic skills. We also offer maintenance training to ensure the upkeep of your equipment is performed properly and regularly. Protect your business, your employees and your equipment by investing in ITC’s skills training courseware.

To read the full report released by USMTO, click here.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net & Suat Eman

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Maintenance Training, Manufacturing Training, Plant Training, Safety Training, Skills Testing, Training Classes | No Comments »

How SCORM Can Benefit Your Business

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

When researching ways in which web-based industrial training will benefit your business you will learn about the many advantages of online courseware, like ITC’s. Some of the major returns on investment include an increase in safety knowledge among your employees and the opportunity to further their trade education as a means to increase your company’s productivity and efficiency. While these advantages are crucial to the advancement of your business, considering the structure of the actual courseware you plan on purchasing is just as important.

Today, SCORM (Sharable Content Reference Model) is an essential tool when it comes to e learning. Simply put, it is a technical standard that manages how online training courseware is developed and delivered to students. It dictates the stipulations for developing web-based learning material (i.e. what software language to use) and ensures any content that meets the SCORM standards is compatible with your Learning management System (LMS). The Learning Management System allows SCORM to communicate with the actual instructional material and share its contents across multiple platforms. Ultimately, SCORM permits your online courseware to be delivered quicker and at a lower cost. All ITC courseware is SCORM compliant and our LMS is designed to simplify directing your e learners to the appropriate courseware, monitoring their progress and tracking their scores.

The intentions of SCORM are to make online courseware accessible, adjustable, affordable, durable, interoperable and reusable for the following reasons:

  • SCORM allows users to pinpoint instructional materials from one location and share them with multiple locations.
  • Organizations are able to modify online courseware depending on individual and organizational needs.
  • With SCORM, your company can increase online training productivity by decreasing the time and costs of distributing courseware content. Since the software is compatible with all SCORM compliant Learning Management Systems (LMS’s), it also reduces the chance of needing costly upgrades or redesigns.
  • Regardless of how technology changes, your web-based training materials will maintain compatibility through the use of SCORM.
  • SCORM allows users to manage instructional content developed in one place and share it across multiple platforms. In other words, your courseware can run on different LMS’s.
  • With SCORM, instructors or managers can pull modules and content from different courseware and reassign them to new lessons or utilize them in a different context.

By using online courseware that is SCORM compliant, like ITC Learning’s, you can remain confident your industrial employees will receive the proper training for their trade through manageable and easily accessible content.

Posted in Industrial Training, SCORM, Safety Training, Training Classes | No Comments »

Lack of Electrical Training Will Shock You…Literally

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

As we have mentioned time and time again, occupational safety training is essential to any industrial job. Young and new employees are more likely to be injured on the job than experienced workers. However, hundreds of thousands of industrial workers, new and experienced, are injured every year while working. Training and re-training your employees can not only benefit your business but also their well-being.

Anytime an employee handles an electrical circuit, there is an elevated risk of electrical shock. Electrical safety behaviors should extend beyond electricians. Any worker utilizing a power tool or working alongside someone dealing with electrical equipment can increase the chances of electrocution occurring. At ITC we recognize that industrial training is a fundamental element to running a successful and safe business. With our interactive courseware your staff will learn essential skill sets to practice their trade without harm. Below are a few points that will help educate your staff on the importance of electrical safety training.

  • Black and red wires are usually energized. Anytime an electrical circuit or component is energized there is a risk of electrical shock. White wires are usually neutral. However, neutral wires can still pose a threat if not properly handled by a trained professional.
  • Metal electrical boxes should always be grounded.
  • Before any repairs are made, all electrical systems should be shut off and then double checked to make sure they are completely off.
  • Utilize color coded wiring when dealing with voltage regulating equipment to ensure the safety of yourself and future repairmen.
  • Always lock out and tag out electrical circuits. Never attempt to open a circuit that has been locked. To gain access, contact the person listed on the tag for approval.
  • Always assess the job you are about to take on. By recognizing possible threats in advance you may save yourself or a co-worker from a work-related injury. Pre-work briefings can also help identify possible hazards and answer questions in order to avoid injury.
  • Consistently check wiring diagrams to make sure all proper connections are made. Any incorrect wiring can easily cause a fire.

These tips should be taken into consideration before dealing with any electrical component. By investing in ITC’s electrical training courseware you will greatly benefit your business and allow your employees to further their trade education.

Posted in Electrical Training, Industrial Training, Safety Training, Training Classes | No Comments »

Air Compressor and Pneumatic Tool Safety

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Air compressors are used in a wide variety of fields, from manufacturing and industrial plants to commercial businesses and households. Among their many functions, air compressors are used to power pneumatic tools. These air tools utilize tough flexible hosing to connect to an air compressor that channels 60-120 pounds of air per square inch. The compressed air moves pistons back and forth that in turn power the pneumatic tools. While air compressors and pneumatic tools offer your business the opportunity to complete large jobs quicker and more efficiently, like all industrial equipment, they can potentially harm your employees and your project. An advanced skill set achieved through proper training will decrease the chances of injury on the job and allow your employees to use pneumatic tools safely and successfully. ITC offers extensive training courseware that will further educate you and your staff on the essential skills to operate industrial equipment properly. Below are just a few tips for air compressor and pneumatic tool safety.

Air Compressors

  • Drain the tank every 4 hours to reduce the chances of rust building up.
  • Never set air pressure greater than an attachment’s rating.
  • If you are using a compressor powered by an engine, check the oil level before each use.
  • Let the engine cool completely before you refuel.
  • Clean the air filter often to prevent dust and debris from reaching the pump.
  • Follow the maintenance schedule regularly to ensure your compressor performs safely and effectively.

Pneumatic Tools

  • Always read the manufacturer’s instruction manual before operating a tool, no matter what your skill set, you should be fully educated on each specific tool before using it.
  • Blow excess air out of the line before connecting any tool.
  • Double check to ensure the tool is properly and securely attached to the hose.
  • Wear safety goggles, gloves and hearing protection when operating an air compressor and pneumatic tools.
  • Do not use compressed air for cleaning purposes unless you utilize an attachment that will reduce the air pressure at the nozzle to 30 psi or less.

Industrial equipment and tools such as air compressors and pneumatic tools should always be operated by a capable and trained professional. To guarantee your staff is adequately trained, utilize the ITC industrial training courseware to educate them on safe practices.

Posted in Industrial Training, Mechanical Training, Pneumatic Training, Safety Training, Training Classes | No Comments »

« Older Entries