You would be hard-pressed to find any worker who enjoys slapping down a 200-page training guide, turning to page one, and investing the next seven to eight hours reading on how to safely operate a construction crane.

Or a worker who kicks up their feet with a popcorn bucket in hand as they watch a three-hour, 10-year-old instructional video on how to drive a bulldozer.

Not only are these training methods tiring, but roughly 52% of Americans prefer hands-on training methods to learn a new skill according to a study developed in 2014 by Everest College.

And with training expenses rising well above the budget for many companies, employers find themselves in a pinch.

It’s a pinch that a small company based out of Seattle can solve.

Safety Provisions Incorporated is home to the Hard Hat Training Series, which provides not just online training for blue-collared jobs, but on-site training to many different locations.

“We were just in New Mexico,” Arthur Lee, President of the Safety Provisions Incorporated, said. “I have a guy in Colorado right now. Next week they’ll both be in Chicago. Last week we were in Maryland. We’ll go everywhere.”

Hard Hat offers training services for many areas, from scaffolding to bulldozing to welding, and each training service follows OSHA’s (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) guidelines.

One main method to Hard Hat’s success is their focus on high-quality training and hands-on experience. By expanding the training length and going more in-depth, Hard Hat addresses the subject matter by using different situations workers may run across. This methodology differs from their competitors’, who push for shorter job training in a field where training is much-needed.

Lee’s focus for the company is to craft tiered, customized training to customers rather than throwing a one-size-fits-all-product at them. This personalized approach gives Hard Hat an edge over competition and lets them set the price at a rate that the customer can afford.

“What is inexpensive for a customer in Seattle might be really expensive for a customer in Montana or Idaho,” Lee said.

Hard Hat has sparked interest and a customer-base not just throughout the United States and Canada, but also in the Middle East, Africa, and Australia for their efficient and cost-effective training services.

Recently, they’ve partnered with Idaho State University’ Continuing Education and Workforce Training department to offer online training guides and on-site training to locals within our region.

“We haven’t really partnered with a lot of universities until we partnered with ISU,” Lee said. “Now a lot of our customers are universities because of the safety needs with all their heavy equipment operators. That’s something we want to keep doing in and outside of Idaho, just because we think there’s a lot of value here.”

For anyone interested in learning more about Hard Hat’s online or on-site training, an open house will be held on May 3^rd at Idaho State University. Visit cetrain.isu.edu/enrollment/hard-hat-training-series/ for more information.