Future Environment Designs Training Center's Pandemic Policy, Updated Policy 06/19/21!

Future Environment Designs Training Center (FEDTC) recognizes that the safety and health of our clients and their family are our shared concerns.  We also recognize that our clients need to renew licenses that are necessary to perform work in the field and that in-person classes are required by law.  FEDTC always reserves the right to refuse to train anyone we feel may be too ill to attend a course.  We will and can hold a private class at a mutually beneficial time after they have gotten better for these individuals.  Until this pandemic has ended we will follow the following procedures to reduce the potential interactions that could increase the risk of spreading disease (on June 19, 2021, we have modified our procedures based on the revised Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Policies and that we were immunized on April 18, 2021 (Pfizer 2 shots).  This policy will remain in effect until the pandemic is over (revisions are underlined):

Social Distancing Policy:
During training classes, the instructor and the students will be requested to:

• All students & instructors before they leave home should take their temperature (it should be less than 100 degrees Fahrenheit) and document absence of shortness of breath, new or change in cough, sore throat, loss of smell or taste, and muscle aches.  They should also check the CDC website for other symptoms at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html.  If possible, take the CDC self-check found at the site.  If you are ill or your temperature is above 100 degrees Fahrenheit they should call to reschedule the course.
• All students upon arrival will be asked what their temperature was before they left home, and do they have any of the symptoms of shortness of breath, new or change in cough, sore throat, and muscle aches.  We will also use a contactless thermometer to measure forehead temperature.  If students answer yes to any questions or the thermometer measurement is above 100 degrees Fahrenheit the student will not be allowed to attend training and must reschedule.
• All students will also, be asked if they are vaccinated and to show proof of vaccination (we recommend students use the NYS Excelsior Pass App).
• All students will be encouraged to bring and wear a face-covering during the training (FEDTC will provide face coverings, when available).  Students who prove they are vaccinated do not need to wear masks or social distance as per the CDC.
• FEDTC will be using our larger training rooms and advising students to sit at least 6 feet from each other and avoid person-to-person contact such as shaking hands.
• Instructors will perform all training at least 6 feet from students, will wear face coverings during training, and we are immunized.
• Cover coughs and sneezes using tissues or into the elbow of your sleeve.  To prevent droplets containing germs from entering the air or contaminating your hands.
• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (sing "Happy Birthday" twice).
• Use waterless hand sanitizer where soap and water (which are preferred) are not available.
• Instructors will avoid any unnecessary travel and cancel or postpone any courses they are feeling unwell or shall use a face covering while training.
• Instructors will be provided with a kit to help with the recommended procedures.

Pandemic Kit:

The pandemic kit each instructor will be provided with will include:

• Tape measure
• Surgical masks, when available
• N95 Disposable Respirators, when available
• Hand Sanitizers, when available
• Tissues
• Cleaning Disinfectant Wipes for cleaning tables
• Forehead Thermometer

Training Courses:

At the beginning of the course we will go over the basic steps for personal protection & prevention.  This will include a slide set and video regarding basic information on protection and prevention before the course begins.

FEDTC feels these steps will help reduce the risk of spreading disease and still enable students to refresh training in accordance with current regulations.  Should you have any questions feel free to give us a call.  Be safe! 

A Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year! We wish you a New Year better than the last one and the best one yet!

Future Environment Designs Training Center (#FEDTC) wishes you and your family a Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year.  As we say goodbye and good riddance to 2020.  At the same time, we enter 2021 with hope and faith that the rest of the decade will be better than it started.  As we discussed, in December's Safety Suzy Newsletter this year the asbestos training industry was shut down from March to May, until we were allowed to do refresher classes virtually/online.  Then in-person training for initial training was opened in June and refresher classes were opened in July.  Since July, we were only allowed to hold classes at 50% capacity.  We're still running at 50% capacity and will continue to run at this level and follow our pandemic policy in our in-person classes until the pandemic is over.

Rockefeller Christmas Tree

In our December Safety Suzy, we announced an increase in our loyalty discount for students who trained with us in 2020.  The loyalty discount for 2021 has been increased to 25% (from 15%).  We thank all of you for your continued support of our business.  For those paying for a subscription or purchasing training services in advance, we are increasing the discount you receive for purchasing training services in advance.  See our Patreon website for more information.

Socially Distanced Asbestos Initial Class

We are proud to announce the addition of a new instructor at #FEDTC.  Mr. Ramon De Los Santos who is an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Outreach Training Instructor has over 15 years of construction experience in road construction safety.  Mr. De Los Santos is bilingual and speaks English and Spanish fluently.  #FEDTC will be adding Spanish OSHA 10-hour & 30-hour construction safety courses to our schedule.  We look forward to adding this training to our schedules along with Spanish versions of hazard communication/right-to-know; excavation, and fall protection courses.  Welcome aboard Mr. De Los Santos!

Fifth Avenue Star

Since the pandemic started we have added new on-demand/e-learn courses to our catalog.  We have added a two-hour Covid-19 awareness course, a 4-hour bloodborne pathogen course, and newly added to the catalog the AHERA designated person course.  The AHERA designated person course is required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) for the person that the Local Education Agency (LEA) designated as the individual responsible for ensuring the requirements of the AHERA regulation are properly implemented.  To register for this course or any of our on-demand/e-learning courses visit FEDTC's online training website.     

Socially Distanced Initial Mold Class

We are looking forward to seeing all of you in 2021.  We are also excited about the changes and opportunities coming our way.  Again, we wish you & your family a Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year!!!

Future Environment Designs Attends LITE 2018 - What Else Can We Do To Improve Our Offerings?

What has now become the annual trek to Edinburgh, Scotland to attend the Leadership Innovation Technology Evolution (LITE) conference was on September 20 and 21, 2018.  Just like the previous conferences, we came away from this conference inspired to continue to improve on our course offerings and increase the information we provide you.  We will continue to transition to online course evaluations, by using Surfaces connected to the course evaluation system we will go electronic for course evaluations.  We are also in the process of converting the asbestos refresher exams to be online.  That will probably take a while to accomplish, hoping to complete it within the next year.

Vicky Kavanagh of Administrate Discussing the Advantages of Blended Learning

Presentations by Vicky Kavanagh of Administrate, Sandy Rushton of Bright Carbon, and Graham David of Blue Bettle Productions taught us how to improve our presentations and make them more informative and entertaining.  Vicky Kavanagh's presentation helped us to determine what else we can we do with the blended learning environment we created.  Sandy Rushton's presentation taught us how animations in powerpoint presentations can help keep learners focused on the message.  Graham David's presentation encouraged us to ask more questions in our presentations to make it more interactive.  These improvements you will see in the next courses and over the next year.

Sandy Rushton of Bright Carbon Discussing How to Improve Stories

We will be expanding our token program for providing access to additional online training courses, and increasing the topics we cover on these programs.  Starting January 2019, to add value to our training courses every registration will include a Silver Token that will be good for taking one online course and will be good for a year.  Our current online courses include courses on respirators, crystalline silica, asbestos awareness, and New York City asbestos handler/supervisor exam review course.  The next courses we are working on is a New York City asbestos investigator exam review course and a Hazard Communication/Right-to-Know Course.  We hope to have these courses available before the New Year.

#LITE2018 was Inspiring and Informative as Previous LITEs

The #LITE2018 conference helped us learn more about the Administrate program and a new feature coming out down road called Learning Paths may help us develop even more courses.  The end of the first day was the annual Historic Pub Crawl which we enjoyed and included visiting three pubs the BeeHive Inn, Biddy Mulligans, and the Jolly Judge.  All three had old wooden bars that were quite impressive.  More interesting was the ability to drink outside the pubs in the UK, not just in a patio or a beer garden.  The Jolly Judge was in a courtyard where you were allowed to stand outside with your drink and while discussing the day's events.  LITE 2018 was another successful conference and we will be able to continue to expand our offerings because of the Administrate product.  

Pub Crawl was Fun & Good for Networking

LITE 2017 Is All About The Fundamentals, Future Environment Designs Develops An Online Course!

Future Environment Designs (FEDTC) would like to wish all of you a Merry Holiday and a Happy New Year!  We look forward to seeing all of you in the New Year.  In September, FEDTC attended the 2017 Leadership, Innovation, Technology, & Evolution (#LITE2017) annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.  We attended last year's #LITE2016 conference and wrote about our experience (see Future Environment Designs Attends the LITE 2016 Conference & Is Inspired!).  The conference is run by Administrate, which is the company now handling our training and customer administration.  As many of you know, we use Administrate to provide you digital access to our course manual.  Because of the information we learned this year, you now have access to the exam review slides we use in our classes.  We now offer a few Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) courses online (i.e., respirator users and asbestos awareness) and on adding more.  What attracted us to the LITE conference this year was our desire to delve deeper into the Administrate program and to learn best practices in managing our business.  This year the conference exceeded those goals.  This year there weren't as many inspiring speakers, but many of the speakers gave us fundamental knowledge of the Administrate program and its capabilities.

View from Administrate's Offices

Like last year, the conference followed two tracks Evolution and Innovation, which we mixed and matched the various presentations throughout both days.  All the presentations from the conference can be seen at Administrate's website.  It started with opening remarks from John Peebles the CEO of Administrate, filling us in on Administrate's growth in the United States (based out of Bozeman, Montana) and in the Middle East (based out of Beirut, Lebanon).  Followed by Mike McGrail (@Mike_McGrail, formerly of Administrate and now with Velocity Digital, no kilt this time), speaking on "Busting Modern Marketing Myths".  We then listened to Simon Greany, of Elucidat, discuss "Big Learning: 4 Strategies to Help You Unlock New Revenue Streams with Digital Learning."

Natasha Serafimovska Presentation on Financial Reporting

Many of the presentations afterwards were delving into the inner workings of  the Administrate programs.  These presentations helped us get the best out of the program or gave us ideas of how to improve the information we get from the program.  For example, the presentation by Siobhain Murdoch and our Account Rep Natasha Serafimovska, both from Administrate, discussed "Common Course Pricing Strategies for Training Companies."  From their presentation we learned about creating subscriptions, how training tokens work and how to offer them.   Siobhain Murdoch then joined together with Loki Lau, of Administrate, to discuss "A Deep Dive Into Course Templates," which taught us how to improve the course templates and in particular adding photos to the templates.  Gilles Bell's, of Administrate, presentation on "How to Communicate More Effectively With Students and Customers" provided some ideas we will be implementing with our communications moving forward (first changes will be with the Safety Suzy Newsletter coming out before the end of this month).  The second day started with a 1-2-1 session with our Account Rep Natasha Serafimovska to help us better understand the program and create several reports.  Mark Mullen & Jesse Vernon, both of Administrate, discussed "How to Improve Instructor Led Training (ILT) with eLearning" which made us realize we can significantly improve the materials we are providing you online. 

Ryan Cochrane's presentation on Creating Content That Converts to Leads

Based on the information we learned we have already made several improvements.  For all asbestos refresher courses the manual is online as many of you know already.  In addition, the review for all the asbestos refresher exams is now online, too.  We've created our first online course the respirator user course.  This course is required annually by anyone who uses a respirator.  This will allow you to take the respirator user course "At Your Convenience."  We plan on adding more courses and creating a separate landing page for the "Training At Your Convenience" service, that will include all the different ways we can train your employees, conveniently.  These improvements will help FEDTC continue to improve and offer more ways in meeting our goal of Keeping Your Employees Safe!