18/10/2010
Minister Encourages Innovation in Health and Safety EducationMinister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe, today gave his strong support for public service innovation in delivering services, particularly where such initiatives can achieve savings.
Speaking at the demonstration and launch by the Health and Safety Authority of a new suite of e-learning courses for the education sector, the Minister said that the initiative had great potential for education and awareness-raising in the area of workplace safety and health. He also identified its attraction for learners as a cost and time-saving platform for learning and urged the HSA to consider the wider future potential of such an initiative.
The set of modules launched today are aimed at schools’ management, teachers and students. At the launch, an interactive e-learning module was demonstrated by Mike Feerick, CEO of Alison.com, a global online education company which partnered with the Authority in the development.
Jim Lyons, Chairman of the Health and Safety Authority said at the launch, “We have recognised the need for safety and health training in the education sector and by developing a learning tool that is interactive, effective and freely available we can reach people at all levels.”
Mr Lyons went on to say “It’s a first for us and for those it is aimed at; it means that we can reach widely with our message and it recognises that learners at all levels benefit from the flexibility of a system which has twenty four / seven access and is matched to their own required pace”.
He congratulated the partners to the HSA in the development of the initiative - Alison.com, and Texunatech who are specialists in data collection in the Education Sector.
Each module has been designed so that it can be easily updated to reflect changes in legislation and practices. Learners can use the courseware to demonstrate their understanding of safety and health concepts and facts by completing end of lesson assessments in an interactive format.
The five modules can be accessed through the Authority’s website www.hsa.ie and through www.alison.com and covers topics such as, ‘Managing Safety and Health in Schools’, ‘Safety and Health in Science Labs’ and ‘Safety and Health in Construction’.
The initiative was supported throughout by a steering group of representatives from the HSA, the Department of Education and Skills, Second Level Support Services (SLSS), T4 (Technologies) and FÁS.
