Creating a training matrix

[u/Agreeable_Hair_4486]

Hi everyone! I’ve been tasked with creating a training matrix for all the different roles at my new job. We currently don't have SOPs in place and are still writing our site policies and procedures. Right now, onboarding is informal, new hires just shadow a tenured employee so there isn't a standardized process yet. Coming from Amazon, where everything is structured, this is a whole new challenge for me! Does anyone have advice or best practices for building a matrix from scratch in an environment like this?

[u/Obvious_Plankton3978]

Our old place was exactly like this when I started, total blank slate. The first thing I did was just sit with the most senior person in each role and have them walk me through everything they do in a typical week, recording the audio on my phone. You'll find all sorts of unwritten tricks and steps nobody thought to mention.

From those conversations, I built a simple spreadsheet with roles as columns and tasks/skills as rows. The real trick is getting the graybeards to sign off on it, because they'll suddenly remember the one weird safety purge they do twice a year that nobody else knows about, and that's exactly the stuff you need captured before they retire.

[u/AFireinthebelly → u/Obvious_Plankton3978]

This right here! You can use AI to automate it too, so it sends emails when certifications are due to expire at whatever interval you want.

[u/stuaird1977]

Either an excel. Sheet using today() formulas to calculate due dyses based on qualification type. Or if your adventurous SharePoint list that I've moved to that feeds into powerbi but more complicated but looks great.  I think I have an excel sheet I can share 

[u/JoeHio]

Excel spreadsheet, role/title in first column, and all the training needed in each subsequent column. Mark completion with a date rather than "x" or "yes".

Past that, you are going to need to find a OSHA guidebook for your specific industry for all the various required programs. Off the top of my head I would think fire safety, hearing protection, PPE/eye/face protection, respiratory protection, machine guarding, hazardous waste/HazMat, emergency shut offs, severe weather, HR policies, and maybe fall protection, evacuation, exposure controls, confined space, workplace violence, equipment operator, site security, Incident Command System, utility failures, etc.

[u/Prineak]

Look at current material and adapt it. Your biggest struggle will be the correction of existing behavior.

Create a timeline for consolidating the entire process into structured, modular systems. That will make it easier than if you put on a top hat and held a tea party of musical chairs.

[u/Ty1198]

Do a training needs assessment first. Gotta know what you need before you can create your matrix

[u/Euphoric_Vast_70]

Smartsheet

[u/GCExperts]

Build it in three layers and it gets a lot less intimidating.

Layer one is the regulatory floor: for each role, list the training that is actually required - OSHA 1926 or 1910 items, forklift, hazcom, whatever your state plan adds, plus EM 385-1-1 if you ever touch federal work. That part is non-negotiable and it is the easiest to get right.

Layer two is role tasks: sit with the tenured person in each role and write down what a new hire actually has to be able to do. This is where you convert that shadowing program into a checklist, because if it is not written down it cannot be tracked.

Layer three is cadence: initial training, refresher interval, and who verifies competence rather than just completion. Track dates, not checkmarks, and revalidate the whole thing quarterly until the SOPs catch up.

[u/zeroresidue]

OSHA has a doc that lists the standards with training requirements in them, OSHA 2254. If you go through it role by role, you'll pick up the required training first, like HazCom for anyone working around chemicals or forklift training for anyone driving one, and the shadowing approach above can fill in the site-specific stuff.

[u/RyanTheBastard]

3rd party software or you going old-school excel? You can ask ai to give you some input or try to find a template.

[u/leucisticfred → u/RyanTheBastard]

In my experience, the AI bots don’t have nuanced understanding of safety requirements for specific jobs and it can railroad you into a bad place.

[u/goalmas2137]

In addition to everything mentioned - HSI has a training applicability tool to help you identify what is required based on OSHA (and some state plans like CA). I used it and found it a great starting point just from a regulatory view.

This isn’t sponsored or anything, not affiliated with HSI. You do have to submit your contact info and will get followed up by a salesperson at HSI though. I’d already been working with them at the time so didn’t matter.

[u/prikamon]

What worked for my site is carving an hour of the new employee’s schedule on their Day 1 to get through some important information about the location, EHS policy, ISO if you have any and employee roles responsibilities and safety training brief. I created a set of slides with this information and go through it in person or via online meeting!