Lessons Learned for Nextgen PHA Facilitators

There are many training sessions available to train the next generation of PHA facilitators on how to execute a PHA; however, as seasoned facilitators look back on their experiences, they realize there are many details that did not get transferred in their classroom sessions. They learned these details on the job through years of valuable experience and through face-to-face and virtually-led workshops. These learnings can improve the quality and efficiency of the PHA workshop, the documentation of the workshop and the PHA experience. In 2020, this knowledge transfer became even more necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations had to move toward conducting workshops virtually while still striving to achieve the same standards needed to ensure a safe facility and satisfy OSHA PSM requirements.

In this paper, seasoned facilitators capture both the small and the significant findings they have learned in their years of PHA facilitation from the very beginning of the PHA (at the preparation phase) to the reporting and follow-up phase. These learnings touch on setting expectations in the terms of reference, maintaining consistent documentation throughout the workshop to aid in effective reporting, maintaining consistency when the team members change (which happens in longer-term workshops), increasing engagement, especially in virtual workshop settings, and increasing use of tools (such as PHA Pro) to improve consistency and efficiency throughout the documentation process.

It is our desire to pass these lessons learned to the next generation of PHA leaders to supplement their classroom learnings and help them succeed in different settings and environments.