Online training from DGOT

REMOTE CONTROL

ONLINE TRAINING • DURING THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN, ONLINE TRAINING HAS COME INTO ITS OWN. CAREFULLY CONSTRUCTED, IT CAN MEET ALL THE REQUIREMENTS OF IATA’S DGR

THE INTERNATIONAL AIR Transport Association’s (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) already specify that “personnel must be trained in the requirements appropriate with their responsibilities”. The prospect of a competency-based training approach should, therefore, not come as a surprise to the dangerous goods training community.

The categories of training defined in the IATA DGR have always been intended to provide guidance to cover certain job roles and areas of training required. Reviewing older versions of the Regulations, it mentions that “depending on the responsibilities of the person, the aspects of training to be covered may vary from those shown in Table 1.5.A - e.g. it may be more appropriate for a packer to cover the aspects with which a shipper may be familiar”.

As the concept of competency-based training arrives in the DGR, the removal of the training tables will force the development of new bespoke training programmes, presenting a challenge to those who currently provide off-the-shelf open courses.

The main purpose of a competency-based training approach is to provide training covering the knowledge and skills needed to allow employees to perform their job function at the required performance level that satisfies safety and is commensurate with their responsibilities. IATA will be introducing new text covering the requirements of competency-based training into Section 1.5 of the 62nd edition of the DGR and moving Table 1.5.A to Appendix H. This will be introduced with a two-year transition period, allowing sufficient time for training providers to adapt their current programmes to meet the new requirements.

ONE STEP BEYOND Dangerous Goods Online Training Ltd is one step ahead of other training providers. With their innovative approach to training, they have already begun to embrace this concept. Even though their online training courses are presented in a modular approach, personalised learning regularly takes place for their students, ensuring that the courses fit the needs of the trainee - trainees are not expected to fit the course, as can happen with the traditional classroom approach. By monitoring students’ progress, they are able to pick up on the gaps in the students’ knowledge as well as identify areas where the training needs to be adapted and improved.

The courses are regularly updated in real time, unlike classroom-based training courses, using examination analysis to feed into course delivery and regular improvements to training materials. Students can ask personalised questions, relevant to their job role, to consultants on hand through either email or phone, seven days a week. Testing competency will be the employer’s responsibility but they too can approach Dangerous Goods Online Training Ltd for ideas of how to do this.

Having to adapt their training options due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dangerous Goods Online Training Ltd is continuing to meet the needs of the industry. Approval from the UK Civil Aviation Authority to offer one-to-one remote examinations has been a real lifeline for many students, particularly those requiring initial shipper training in remote locations across the UK and in Europe.

Dangerous Goods Online Training Ltd is pleased to offer HCB readers a 10 per cent discount on all of their online training courses using discount code DGOTHCB. For further details visit www.dgonline.training, call +44 (0) 800 649 6799 or email info@dgonline.training.

ALL THOSE ACTIVE IN HANDLING DG BY AIR