My concern has always been in ensuring that employees take the information in and understand it. i know most have questions that need to be answered but they either get together in groups and answer then or they skip through the presentation to get to the question write them down then go through the presentation only taking note of the relevant answers.or one person sits through the presentation and passes the answers to everyone else. It doesn't allow for any specific questions or problems someone might have if they can't ask it during training then they might never ask the question again. Potentially shows a lack of management buy in towards health and safety if a piece of software is all that is required to provide training. If an incident accident did occur would this form of training be deemed suitable in court? The main benefits are that you can provide training for staff quickly and cheaply with minimal cost in both time and money. Whilst possible complying with legislation around staff training whether it's suitable or sufficient might be down to whether the subject matter is high or low as to whether staff have taken the information on board some subjects i don't think this method is suitable as a first introduction but possible as a refresher. I still believe qualified or experienced trainers is the correct way to go but often money can be a driver to this form of training but you still need to ensure it's suitable ans sufficient if it's not then you are failing your employees and potentially putting them at risk Who knows may be e-learning will be all that is required to get a driving license, would that be suitable and sufficient? where do you stop in cost cutting. Phil

The use of e-learning can be very useful in reducing costs of training but beware of the use of it for practical subjects like manual handling. You can do the theory bit but this will not ensure that people have grasped the actual methods to be used even if they know the answers in a test. Practical tasks need practical assessments. You say you have difficulty in getting people released for training so how are you going to ensure they get the e- learning packages as many mangers will just think that as it is available at all times to people then when 'production' is in a rush they will postpone the training and then this becomes the norm so the amount of training will still be low. Some organisations have said that people can do the training at home but be careful as this will be breach of the law if they do not get paid. Take care John C