As COVID-19 vaccines begin to roll out across the Nation and overall case numbers begin to decline, many states have started to ease COVID restrictions. With many Americans ready to get back to some sense of “normalcy,” many companies, NASP included, have begun offering instructor-led courses for the remainder of 2021. In an effort to gain insight on industry professional’s views on returning to the classroom, NASP conducted a survey to understand people’s opinions on the matter. The survey, which had nearly 200 respondents, appeared to be divided. Let us take a look at some of their responses:
Of the Safety, Health, and Environmental professionals polled, nearly 32% have already attended an open-enrollment, instructor-led training course in 2020 and/or 2021. In a follow-up question, 13% of individuals said they would feel more comfortable waiting for COVID cases to drop further before attending a class. An additional 31% said they would rather wait for vaccine rollouts to be more wholly implemented. Nearly 5% said they would no longer attend open-enrollment classes due to the effects of the pandemic.
Almost two-thirds of individuals would be open to attending live courses, conferences, or seminars by the end of this year, which coincides similarly with the schedules of many organization’s classroom training and trade show events. Of the 67%, 26% are open to attending safety-related events now, an additional 12% said they would feel comfortable moving forward in Q2 of 2021, and the remainder, 29%, will wait until either Q3 or Q4 of 2021.
NASP understands the reluctance to going back to traditional training. However, if you or others in your organization feel confident to begin attending classroom training now, click on our Classroom Schedule here for exciting, relevant safety and environmental training for the remainder of 2021.
