Developing e-learning resources for REACH exposure scenarios

We developed e-learning resources to help vocational learners understand European Union (EU) regulations as they relate to handling chemicals.

The EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulations require that information on chemicals be communicated throughout the supply chain. This complex information may be presented in exposure scenarios (ES’s) – an annex to a safety data sheet.

To ensure that information in an ES is correctly communicated, the project Persuasive Learning Objects and Technologies (EuroPLOT)* developed an e-learning resource for ES’s. It teaches industries that produce and sell chemical mixtures how to handle ES’s for chemical mixtures according to REACH.

As a EuroPLOT project partner, we developed e-learning resources to help downstream users of chemicals understand the REACH regulations as they relate to ES’s. Supported by the software PLOTMaker (developed during the EuroPLOT project), we applied several of the persuasive principles to our learning objects. We utilised a variety of interactive methods to make the information engaging and relevant to the participants.

Employees from industries, consultancies, and branch organisations were invited to test the e-learning resource. Using focus group interviews and online evaluations, we assessed the effectiveness of our e-learning resource. The results:

• will be used to improve the way this e-learning resource and future resources are made
• may also be used in the future to improve e-learning software

*EuroPLOT was funded by the European Commission's Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency through grant #511633.