Rock Hill Schools

18% Decrease in Accidents and Claims

Rock Hill was seeking a staff training solution that would be more efficient, cost-effective and convenient for all employees.

The Challenge

Rock Hill Schools (RHS) is a diverse community of schools with an established history of innovations designed to meet the needs of all students. Located 20 miles south of Charlotte, N.C., Rock Hill is one of the fastest growing areas of South Carolina. RHS is home to nearly 18,000 students and covers more than 3.1 million square feet of facilities and 1,200 acres of land.

With only two employees in the Risk, Security, and Emergency Management Office responsible for training over 2,400 employees in 29 different school locations, RHS knew they needed to find a staff training solution that would be more efficient, cost-effective and convenient for all employees.

The Solution

Now in its fifth year using the Vector Training (formerly SafeSchools) Online Training System, RHS administers mandatory safety training to a large group of employees, quickly and easily.

“Vector Training is an important piece to our risk management program,” notes Kevin Wren, Director of Risk, Safety and Emergency Management for RHS. “The task of keeping up with all of the OSHA, insurance and state requirements, in addition to our own internal safety and emergency protocols, would be impossible without the Vector Training System. How are you going to get out a consistent training message to all employees without Vector Training?”

Using the training system, staff learn how to respond to a variety of situations, such as fires, health emergencies, lock-downs and other emergency situations. Wren notes that Vector Training allows for a cultural change because of the knowledge that the courses provide staff. Through the courses, staff members learn what hazards to look out for and are able to put that into practice.

The Results

Since rolling out Vector Training, the district has seen an 18 percent decrease in accidents and claims, and staff members have completed over 31,000 Vector Training courses to date. RHS staff can easily log into their custom system and complete assigned training on their own time, at their own pace.

Kevin coordinates with his extended “Safety Team,” including Police and Sheriff’s Department School Resource Officers and Registered School Nurses to design and tailor specialized training for district support professionals from the substantial Vector Training course library. The district now easily assigns mandated training to all employees, including Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Prevention; Sexual Harassment; Slips, Trips & Falls; Youth Suicide: Awareness & Prevention, and even its own customized Rock Hill: Emergency Response course and automatically tracks compliance.

RHS also utilizes the Vector Incident Management System to successfully identify hazards and patterns of accidents. Before adopting the system, the district had no way of tracking student accidents.

Now the district can rest assured it’s meeting required training mandates and creating a safer learning environment for all staff and students. We applaud Kevin Wren for being named K-12 Safety Director of the Year and everyone at RHS for going above and beyond to make safety a top priority throughout the district.