As more people are vaccinated against the coronavirus, it is becoming safer to conduct in person training. It’s still important, however, to do so in a way that protects everyone’s health but still effectively teaches. It’s important to have a space large enough to hold participants in a socially distant way, but organizers should also think through how speakers can be heard while wearing masks and how beverages and snacks will be handled during breaks.

“The challenges they’re experiencing is how to train safely now and get the number of people through our session, physically distanced,” said Cari Rasmussen, food safety specialist, Commercial Food Sanitation. “To account for socially distanced training, the room may only be at 50-75% capacity.”

To do this, AbiMar Foods, Abilene, Texas, repurposed one of its warehouses into a training space with tables spaced 6 feet apart. This gave everyone enough room to train together in a safe way.

Without a large space like a warehouse, baking companies will have to train in smaller, more intimate groups. This can provide one-on-one training and engaging group discussion, however.

“This works well for teams that are all based in the same location and want a training that is tailored to their operation,” said Ryan Will, bakery professional, AIB International.

This article is an excerpt from the June 2021 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Training, click here.