Utilization, needs, and related factors for e-learning and its application to education and training in occupational safety and health among enterprises in Japan

In order to know utilization, needs, and related factors for e-learning and its application to education and training in occupational safety and health (OSH) among enterprises in Japan, a questionnaire survey was conducted of enterprises randomly selected from those with 1,000 or more employees and those with 999 or less (500 for each). Data from 134 (56 and 78, respectively) enterprises were analyzed (response rate, 13%). Among total enterprises, 19% had introduced and 16% planned to introduce e-learning. However, only 7% of larger enterprises and less than 3% of smaller enterprises used e-learning for education and training in OSH. On the other hand, 80-90% of enterprises responded positively to considering the use of e-learning for education and training on various OSH topics for various users. Highly rated merits of e-learning were "can use whenever", "can use anywhere"; and its highly rated obstacles were "cost", "individual PC not available", "insufficient information on efficacy". However, the merit "can monitor training" was significantly associated with the use/plan of e-learning. "Good contents not available" was more frequent among enterprises which used/planned e-learning. The study indicated a greater need for e-learning based OSH education and training, despite a currently low rate of its use. Improvement of e-learning platforms and contents, reduction of cost, and improvement of e-learning infrastructure at work may be needed to facilitate the use of e-learning in OSH.