Kentucky Labor Cabinet
Kentucky Labor Cabinet, making a safer workplace. State agency uses Adobe solutions to deliver eLearning experiences, expand reach of safety training, and transform citizens’ perceptions.
“Virtual learning and webinars launched with Adobe Connect not only transformed how we can engage with people, but also helped us to positively raise our profile to attract a wider following.”
Kim Perry, Director, Education and Training, Kentucky Labor Cabinet
SOLUTION: Adobe Connect, Adobe Captivate
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: Engage Systems
Kentucky Labor Cabinet Established in 1967
Constituents: 1.9 million
Frankfort, Kentucky
www.labor.ky.gov
www.laborcabinetetrain.ky.gov
CHALLENGES
- Adopt a robust eLearning and webinar platform
- Improve the availability of critical OSHA training programs statewide
- Support an agency brand transformation
“Adobe Connect simplifies how audiences access learning sessions. We can simply include a link in an email invitation, the person clicks it, and they are instantly linked to the course without purchasing software. Making it simple eliminates technology barriers, encourages participation, and starts off the relationship with a positive first step.”
Shannon Couch, Resource Management Analyst, eLearning and Development, Kentucky Labor Cabinet
SOLUTION AT A GLANCE
- Adobe Connect
- Adobe Captivate
Safety In Numbers
Risk and danger are present in virtually every workplace—from a wet floor in a restaurant to a crane being operated hundreds of feet above city streets. It’s the responsibility of both employers and employees to make workplaces as safe as possible for everyone. To provide health and safety guidance and standards for employers, as well as inform employees of their rights and responsibilities, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was formed. Across the United States, it’s up to each state to determine how OSHA standards are communicated and enforced.
In Kentucky, that responsibility resides in the Labor Cabinet, which takes a collaborative approach to engaging businesses and their workers to create safer workplaces. “In our position, it’s possible for businesses to take a negative view of our work and see us as an enforcement agency, rather than a safety resource,” says Kim Perry, Director of Education and Training at the Kentucky Labor Cabinet. “It’s important that every interaction with the public is clear and positive.”
To help cultivate positive partnerships, the agency recognized its training programs as a key area of opportunity. This was especially strategic, considering the training group is separated from enforcement and is committed to providing businesses with ongoing learning and safety strategies.
The Kentucky Labor Cabinet also saw adopting a robust eLearning and webinar platform as a catalyst for reaching more businesses and workers with OSHA training, safety and health information, apprenticeship guidance, and more. Using a virtual learning environment, the agency could also reduce event costs—including travel, lodging, conference room rentals, and presenter costs—to deliver greater value to taxpayers.
“Using eLearning and webinars to connect with constituents was an obvious way we could engage more people,” says Perry. “It also gives businesses and individuals, many of whom might not want in-person interactions, an opportunity to connect with us when they otherwise would not.”
Creating Positive Interactions
After looking at several solutions—including WebEx and GoToMeeting—Kentucky Labor Cabinet chose Adobe Connect to deliver new virtual learning experiences to a broader community. The agency uses Adobe Captivate to create learning content and webinar materials with interactive elements that encourage engagement and information retention. Additionally, using Adobe Connect as a hosted solution provided a stable, reliable environment to deliver learning materials.
“Integration between Adobe Connect and Captivate enables us to quickly create and deliver new learning experiences using a single platform,” says Shannon Couch, Resource Management Analyst for the Kentucky Labor Cabinet. “We can use elements from each solution to create unique experiences that other software doesn’t deliver.”
The success of the Kentucky Labor Cabinet’s OSHA program has generated significant interest from agencies inside and outside the state. One project already spun off from the professional program, named TRACK (Tech Ready Apprentices for Careers in Kentucky), focuses on providing similar training to high school students in career tech apprentice programs. Understanding the effectiveness of the training, many tech-ready apprentice programs have also made participating in Kentucky Labor Cabinet training a requirement for graduation.
Similarly, the Kentucky Labor Cabinet is partnering with temporary workforce agencies to provide safety training to workers who wouldn’t otherwise have access. “Virtual learning and webinars launched with Adobe Connect not only transformed how we can engage with people, but also helped us to positively raise our profile to attract a wider following,” says Perry.