When the North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA) asked its members what their biggest challenge was for the power sweeping industry, overwhelmingly it was two items: finding enough good operators and the headache of insurance and litigation claims.
Utilizing the expertise of over two dozen industry leaders NAPSA has been laser-focused on developing online training for sweeper operators. They realized that this industry has been needing standardized training that would be accessible to everyone. The result is the launch of the Certified Sweeper Operator (CSO) training program, and the impact is eating away at insurance costs.
The CSO program includes 20 online modules, an oral exam, final exam and the applicant must complete 1,000 hours of injury/ accident-free sweeper operation.
Scott Cerosky of Crum & Forester had this to say about the program: “The NAPSA CSO (Certified Sweeper Operator) program provides critical and viable educational components for sweeping companies that are committed to providing their equipment operators with the policies and procedures necessary to improve safety and job performance,” he said. “Additionally, this program should prove to mitigate future claims activity for those companies who implement it. Therefore, insurance providers should recognize the importance of this safety training program and offer appropriate credits for those who make the investment.”
After listening to the industry, NAPSA realized that company owners also needed a formalized training program. Members were going to court and being asked if they had been professionally trained and in spite of the fact that they had been performing the job for years, even decades, the answer would be no. Despite NAPSA providing almost 40 years of seminars and workshops, this did not meet the test for formalized training.
To address this, NAPSA has undergone and successfully completed the process of being approved to be a standards writer for the American National Standards Institute. This will allow NAPSA to create an ANSI recognized training program for company owners. This program will enable graduates to say yes; they are professionally trained during depositions or court proceedings.
In addition to the improved operator performance, combined the two programs are expected to deliver insurance savings that far exceed the costs of implementing the training.
For more information on these groundbreaking training programs, visit www.PowerSweeping.org or call NAPSA at 888-757-0130.
