Managers, supervisors and trainers make adaptations in a number of areas.

Training Strategies

• Train workers using a one-to-one approach.
• Use visuals whenever possible.
• Deliver at a slower pace.
• Use videos. "The course is difficult to teach because it is boring". Videos help.
• Deliver orally with minimal use of textual material. "The content is talked out".
• Break large groups in the small groups.
• Foster openness in the classroom.
• Divide course work into two levels.

Modifications to textual material

• Modify material to a grade eight level.

Modifications for Second language learners

• Have learners sit at the front. "If someone's first language is not English, they are asked to sit at the front and trainers make themselves available at breaks".
• Engage a trainer who can speak the first language of the employee.
• Offer courses in Cantonese and Vietnamese a few times a year.

Case Study Scenarios

The following case stories demonstrate the need for accommodations.

• In one venue, the owner/manager whose first language is not English commented that they need to hire ethnic cooks because of their ethnic cooking ability. In their workplace, they use their first language to communicate instruction about work tasks and food safety. The cooks would not be able to complete the certification course unless it was delivered in their first language. Both the interviewee and the co-owner took the food safety certification training twice because they did not pass the exam the first time. For them, it was difficult to understand in English. In the second session, they received assistance from the trainer who read out the exam questions orally.
• One supervisor stated that, "People here are more comfortable with oral communication. In in-service sessions, most of it is done through oral communications but people always want to know if there is a test…because that would require reading and writing and they hold back. They are afraid of written exams. They are smart people but these things are scary for them. Forms such as those from the WCB are scary to do".

Older Workers and Aboriginals

• A few older learners (one as old as 70) and some Aboriginal participants who work in oil rig camps in the north have difficulty with the food safety content. Employment with rig camp caterers often requires food safety certification which is a challenge to older and Aboriginal workers. Thus, accommodations are made for them in training sessions. Older workers who have been out of school for a long time need new strategies to help them learn while Aboriginals' core education may have gaps that prevent them from learning successfully.