If only the headline referred to a car.

Seems like it should, right? Wouldn’t we all want that great Z car, and just be so excited that it gets a new model with upgraded features, maybe some leather seats, surround-sound stereo …

Wait, what? Sorry, got distracted. It’s not a Z car? Oh, right.

[Image courtesy of Flickr user Natalia Wilson via a Creative Commons license]

[Image courtesy of Flickr user Natalia Wilson via a Creative Commons license]

It’s zee standard. I mean, a safety standard, which has been refreshed for the new work reality. After all, the last update was at the start of the economic recovery – and our dynamic has changed a bit in the last several years, fair to say?

Let’s take a little time to discuss ANSI/ASSE Z490.1, which is the standard that deals with worksite and worker training programs. This standard just got an update this year, seven years after the last reboot.

The Practice and Theory of Z490

The idea behind Z490.1 was to develop a standard for safety training and training programs that could be applied across many industries, addressing many basic safety concepts to support the safety of as many workers and worksites as possible. The idea was to combine best practices of safety training with those which are in occupational health and safety and be able to apply and adapt it to many business verticals.

In practice, the standard can and has been used effectively by three types of stakeholders:

  1. Employers – to assess any third-party training or to evaluate internal safety training programs;
  2. Training providers – to help assess and improve the safety training services they provide; and
  3. Corporations – a tool to develop and manage their safety training programs.

Z490.1 has often been effective as a benchmark to ensure that workers are getting the safety training that is required and to ensure that those who use third-party services are getting value for what they pay.

So What’s New This Year?

Z490 was reviewed this year, and based on much feedback from the 2009 edition of the standard, plus evolving technology and work environments over the last few years, some changes were made to help keep the standard up with the times.

Here are the adjustments that have been made:

  • In section 2, the definition of “training program” was edited, and a new definition, “virtual learning,” was added.
  • Section 3 was changed from a focus on coordination of safety training to comprehensive management.
  • Section 4 was expanded to include both whole program and individual course development.  Additional wording addresses the alignment of government regulations with the standard.
  • Section 5 developed the language addressing trainer development and management of the learning environment.

Everything you would need to know, including supplemental resources about Z490.1 can be found at this link or by e-mailing Ovidia Munteanu at the ASSE.