Computer-Based Training Improves Competitiveness, Safety

With the rebuild of its Port Wentworth refinery in Georgia, Imperial Sugar is taking employee training to the next level.

About 300 workers were retrained with new manufacturing and warehousing skills in collaboration with Savannah Technical College and the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education. [See related story: Workers Retrain, Improving Skills, Safety and Efficiency.]

In addition, Imperial Sugar has also launched a corporate-wide, computer-based training (CBT) program this year that includes employees at its Gramercy, Louisiana, and Sugar Land, Texas sites.

Tina Kerby, a member of the company’s human resources department, spearheaded the CBT project out of Port Wentworth. “The new program achieves a number of objectives,” says Kerby. “It helps us meet new regulatory safety guidelines, improves quality and enhances our competitive advantage.”

CBT offers several benefits. It enables flexible scheduling, tracks who’s been trained on what, tests competency and is customizable. And given the documentation requirements for employee competency from regulatory agencies like OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and the American Institute of Baking (AIB), computer-based training enables Imperial Sugar to satisfy those requirements effectively and efficiently.

Imperial Sugar’s CBT program combines standard and custom-training modules, which are completed by employees in on-site computer labs. Every month, employees in packaging, warehousing and refinery operations take the required training modules, completing them at their own pace. (Photos of employees in computer lab taken in Gramercy by Ed Lallo.)

Training includes several categories of health and safety – such as emergency preparedness and protection against food contamination and heat stress – as well as superior manufacturing practices. New modules for job-specific training are coming.

Training modules can be tailored by location and for department-specific needs. The Port Wentworth refinery, for example, developed a food safety module called HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) that helps employees identify and eliminate potential food safety hazards throughout the manufacturing and distribution process.

“We consider the specific needs of the respective audiences addressed by each of the modules as the material is developed,” said Ron Allen, Imperial’s Senior Director of Environmental Safety, Health and Quality. “Advanced training will be provided to operations staff that manage combustible dust issues on a daily basis. But it’s also worth noting that all Imperial Sugar associates will complete a CBT module that addresses the basic fundamentals of working safely around sugar and sugar dust. Each course is tailored to the specific knowledge requirements of the respective associate group.”

Similar CBT courses are being implemented at the Gramercy refinery, while headquarters in Sugar Land receives a modified mix of plant and office-oriented training.

Imperial Sugar’s CBT testing and tracking features provide an essential layer of assurance for customers that employees are up to speed on the latest techniques to create safe, high-quality products. As a result, customers can put their trust in the Imperial Sugar brand.

For a look at course offerings, please click here.