DES PLAINES, IL – The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) recently announced the approval and availability of the newly revised American National Standard ANSI/ASSE Z490.1-2009 “Criteria for Accepted Practices in Safety, Health and Environmental Training.” The standard calls for qualified training to ensure that workers and safety, health and environmental professionals have the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to protect themselves and others in the workplace.

 

Approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) on April 21, 2009, the ANSI/ASSE Z490.1-2009 standard applies a broad range of training and training programs in order to specify how to adequately design, develop, deliver and evaluate training.

 

“The Z490 was written to provide a guide for the development and presentation of comprehensive HSE training events,” said Z490 Committee Vice-Chair Frank Perry. “As health, safety and environmental professionals, we have all had the opportunity to conduct compliance training at one time or another. Occasionally, we were less than satisfied with either our presentation or with the organization of the training materials. The Z490 is the perfect guide to develop, present and evaluate each training event. If one is using a third-party trainer, the Z490 can be used as a yardstick to ensure that you are truly getting what your organization requires and what you are paying for.” 
 

The standard covers all areas of training, including training development, delivery, evaluation and management of training and training programs. Criteria within the standard were developed by combining accepted practices in the training industry along with those in the safety, health and environmental profession.

 

The standard can be used by employers to assess the services of outside training providers or to audit or improve their own training programs. It allows training providers to assess and improve their training services. Additionally, it can be used as a basis for development and management of training and training programs. The standard has annexes and references that provide additional information and detail. It is available in print and electronic format by contacting ASSE at customerservice@asse.org.