It should come as little surprise that both environmental professionals and the companies that employ them have recognized the critical importance of regularly attending third-party training sessions.

Keeping up with rapidly changing regulations in the EHS field is extremely important. But, environmental, health, and safety (EHS) professionals also attend training to keep up with changing operations and/or changing job responsibilities at their facility.

But how much training do EHS professionals really need?

Compliance Training versus Professional Training

According to Aarcher Institute’s student data, general professional training at some level is necessary, but annual training that is directly related to a compliance requirement is essential for most EHS professionals.

A full 76% of respondents to a recent Environmental Industry Benchmarking Survey commissioned by Aarcher Institute said they have attended a regulatory or compliance training course in the past, with 38% of non-attendees indicating that they have considered doing so. The total is an overwhelming 84% of the sample, which includes a wide variety of professionals from EHS and related positions.

How do you know if you’re getting enough professional training?  If things are stable and limited scope, maybe you have enough training.  Unless you know you are going to retire at your current role current employer, you should always do professional development to increase your market value by training.

 

Craig Schwartz is an environmental management consultant with more than 20 years experience helping clients work toward their environmental compliance, performance, and risk management objectives. He is a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM), Certified Professional Environmental Auditor (CPEA), and Certified Environmental Trainer (CET) who serves as both an AARCHER consultant and instructor for the Aarcher Institute of Environmental Training. Craig can be reached at cschwartz@aarcherinc.com.