Hardcopy vs. Electronic Training Records - Eliminating Hardcopy Records

Our HR department currently maintains a database of training records as well as individual hardcopy files of attendance sheets, certificates, course evaluations, etc. as the quality records for company training.

HR would like to do away with the hardcopies and utilize the database alone. I have reservations reguarding this change. But, I want additional opinions to make sure I'm not clinging to paper needlessly.

Thanks for any and all inputs.

Without knowing your company's environment, my opinion is based solely on how my own company approaches the issues of training records.

We have both....we have hardcopy and electronic.

Strictly electronic training records are for documents only and can only apply to personnel with an email account. When they self-train on a document, they are prompted for their password - a security feature to ensure that the person requiring training actually did the training (yes, I know, some people share passwords).

For hard copies, in some cases they are scanned and saved on the network and the HR Coordinator enters the information into a database.

Some hard copies are maintained as hard copy records.

We are a unionized facility, however, and require the actual signature of the employee for due diligence purposes. Not all unionized employees have an email account and, thus, are unable to self-train on documents. However, we also require signatures on safety training issues, powerpoint presentations regarding abnormalities/Customer Complaints, etc....items, for which, there is currently no self-training option within our company.

If we did away with the copy of the actual signature, we could be opening ourselves up to some serious issues.

Forgive my manners! Welcome to the Cove, JoliBeanz!

Hello and welcome to the Cove

My quick response is if you have the ability to go paperless - DO SO! For the hardcopy things you listed I can't think of a reason not to put them into electronic format. I, too, was very leery of letting go of my hardcopy documents but have (over time) gotten rid of 2 two drawer and 1 four drawer filing cabinet in my area. Any paper I receive is now scanned and saved (if needed). Much easier and quicker to "get my hands on stuff" now. It was a big change in how I worked but my work is much more efficient (and even more "on time" )

Bill

I agree with the concept of going paperless. However, HR feels that there is as much "work" in scanning and filing electronic versions of these forms as there is in the hard copy equivalent. My feeling is that this "improvement" is driven more by the drudgery of filing and the non-conformances that have resulted when HR could not provide the documents during an audit.

While we are not a union facility, having the actual signature, or a scan of the document gives more validity to the system.... at least IMO.

If you go back and scan all of your records, it is very time consuming but the benefit of having the records backed up on your server (in case of a natural disaster) may justify the time it will take to scan the paper copies.

Another option is to look into the possibility of electronic signatures. I know that adobe is capable accepting the signatures and this could be accomplished during the training rather than having to scan each record. If you have a copy of abobe and you want more information, go into the help files and type in electronic signature.

mshell said:

If you go back and scan all of your records, it is very time consuming but the benefit of having the records backed up on your server (in case of a natural disaster) may justify the time it will take to scan the paper copies.

Another option is to look into the possibility of electronic signatures. I know that adobe is capable accepting the signatures and this could be accomplished during the training rather than having to scan each record. If you have a copy of abobe and you want more information, go into the help files and type in electronic signature.

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Two points:

1. Document Control: if you maintain both electronic and hard copy, you must determine which is the "official" master original and which is the copy. My vote (if there is ANY reason to maintain hard copies) is to declare the electronic the official master original and all hard copies as "disposable" copies. A good Document Management System (versus Document Sharing System) will allow you to view both document files and image files (scanned-in copies of paper documents.)
   
2. For systems requiring positive identification of users and authors: current biometric sensors (fingerprints, retina scans, etc.) are excellent. I have seen good fingerprint scanner/readers for less than $150.00. Some connect as a "wedge" between computer and keyboard. User inserts finger for scanning and reading and is automatically registered as the unique user who belongs to that fingerprint. Same reader can distinguish hundreds or thousands of individuals and allow access or record usage accordingly.

Document Control: if you maintain both electronic and hard copy, you must determine which is the "official" master original and which is the copy. My vote (if there is ANY reason to maintain hard copies) is to declare the electronic the official master original and all hard copies as "disposable" copies. A good Document Management System (versus Document Sharing System) will allow you to view both document files and image files (scanned-in copies of paper documents.)

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I completely agree with Wes. I have converted records into electronic format in the past and we actually shredded the hard copies as they were converted to avoid maintaining two systems.

For systems requiring positive identification of users and authors: current biometric sensors (fingerprints, retina scans, etc.) are excellent. I have seen good fingerprint scanner/readers for less than $150.00. Some connect as a "wedge" between computer and keyboard. User inserts finger for scanning and reading and is automatically registered as the unique user who belongs to that fingerprint. Same reader can distinguish hundreds or thousands of individuals and allow access or record usage accordingly.

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This is also an excellent alternative to scanning the records. If you were to use the signature, each user could be assigned a unique password but the fingerprint is proof of attendance that can not be questioned.

I like electronic records because keeping copies of them on CDs in safe storage can show records that, since they are burned on a CD, were believably not "fixed" in a rush just before an audit. So sayeth the registrar who audited my employer for ISO 14001.

The question does not revolve around hardcopy vs electronic copies of the same document. The questions is: Will information in a database (i.e. Joe Blow has been trained in ISO procedures, OSHA requirements, soldering, etc.) stand up as a quality record in the absence of any copy (hard or electronic)of training documentation.

If HR is entering the records and the elimination of the hard copy files will make it difficult to prove that the employee actually attended the training and signed the training record, I would say keep the hard copies as they contain the employees signature.

We have the same situation here. I have developed a database that I use to keep track of the training that is required for each position. I also enter the training date into the database so that I can pull a report of reqirements vs. completed training using various criteria. I do not use this as proof of training instead I use it as a tool to help manage the training process. I forward all signed hard copy traiing records to the HR Manager for inclusion in the employee training files. We are a small company with less than 30 employees so this works well for us.