It’s been a year since the Bushfire Safety for Workers learning module became available on CFA’s online learning platform, and over 2000 people have completed it before the upcoming fire season.
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The Bushfire Safety For Workers was launched just over a year ago.
The demand for face-to-face bushfire safety sessions for workers, particularly in the health sector, increased substantially over the past decade.
In response to this demand, CFA embraced technology to develop an interactive online training module in order to provide a higher level of accessibility across Victoria.
The original course was designed to support people who work in and travel through high-risk bushfire areas as part of their job, and the focus has remained the same for the online module.
Bushfire Safety for Workers is a standalone module for new participants, and also a refresher for people who have previously taken part in the face-to-face course. The focus has remained the same.
It’s CFA’s first public-facing online interactive training and, in the past year, almost 2100 people have become competent in the module, with a further 400 enrolled or in progress.
“The benefit of having this external-facing course on our online platform is that we’re able to have a larger reach for the module,” Lucy Saaroni, Executive Manager Fire Prevention and Preparedness, said.
“We’ve had over 2000 participants since the launch a year ago, that’s an audience we may not have been able to deliver to through the original face-to-face program.”
The module covers four areas of content, including ‘Risk’, ‘Prepare’, ‘Drive’ and ‘Survive’, and includes interactive scenarios, videos and questions for participants about bushfire safety.
The content covers four areas – Risk, Prepare, Drive and Survive.
Over 500 of the participants have completed the feedback following the module, with extremely positive results.
More than 98 per cent of these participants said they understood how to apply the information they’d learned to their role, and 96 per cent said they would be confident in the application.
Over 95 per cent of participants stated they were satisfied with the module, and many of the comments were complimentary about its ease of use and understanding.
“There are organisations around the state that have made the training mandatory for their people,” Lucy said. “This shows the value employers see in this module for the safety of their employees and volunteers over summer.
“Completing the module could save your life, or the life of a client or colleague, when faced with a bushfire situation this fire season.”
