
We all support safety training. Effective safety training is even better.
What does it mean to have effective safety training? What does this mean?
Training employees in safety is essential. It is training that they can apply for the jobs. Safety Training courses is what will reduce the risk of dangerous actions and increase safety. It influences behavior on the job. It results in lower incident rates for injuries, illnesses, and near-misses. It can even make a positive impact on the company’s overall bottom line. Safety training is vital for employees’ safety.
This is what safety managers expect from safety training.
These tips are not the only ones you will love.
Tips for effective safety training
Here are some ways to improve your safety training. These tips will ensure you are on the right track.
Notice that the first two steps do not directly relate to safety training. They are related to safety in all aspects. However, we believe they are good starting points.
1. Identify Your Safety & Health Hazards
You must first inspect the workplace for hazards. If you do not know the hazards your workers are exposed to, your safety training won’t be of any value.
An excellent way to get started is to do a job hazard analysis. They will then work to eliminate these hazards. This point is important and we will get to it soon.
2. Safety at Work: Control your Hazards
How can that improve safety training? It eliminates the need for safety education! It is more effective to eliminate or reduce a hazard than to train workers to remain safe when there is one.
To control these hazards, you can use a hierarchy of controls. The hierarchy of control gives you a simple way to manage hazards. The first step is to get rid of the problem. Next, try substitution. Third, consider engineering controls.
3. Know Your Safety Training Regulations.
First, because the law is the rule and compliance is good. Safety training regulations can help you ensure you aren’t overlooking anything and, help you establish a “baseline minimum training” that you can surpass with your training.
5. Safety training can be achieved using a blended learning approach
For safety training, don’t depend on just one delivery method. You can use instructor-led training or online learning for all your training.
6. Know your learning objectives for safety training
You’ll need to develop a set of learning goals early on in your training design.
Your learning objectives are the goals you want to see your employees achieve in their job after they have completed your training.
7. Safety training should be delivered to the right people.
If you train your employees with their particular characteristics in mind, there is a greater chance they will “get it.”
What are their work schedules? Which do they prefer, classroom-style or in the field? Do they prefer to train with eLearning and then share their thoughts as a team? Are they comfortable reading written material? What is their knowledge of the topic? Which of their existing knowledge can you use for comparisons, while adding new knowledge?
Effective training is more efficient if you know more about your employees. Your workplace will be safer as a consequence.
8. Know and address “What’s In It for me?” Issue
Training can be a motivator for employees to pay attention and make a difference in their lives.
Start by explaining how training will improve their safety and how it relates to their job. If you don’t do this, your employees will be left wondering why.
Make sure the training is tailored to your workers’ needs. Safety training should not be generic. That will mean that some employees will be almost automatically oblivious to the fact that they are completing safety training that doesn’t relate to their job. They will, you can guess.
Last but not least, be specific about the safety training. Be sure the safety training is relevant to the job the employee does. Avoid reading through a safety regulation that is too abstract. Make it personal.
9. Active Learning
Active learning is an important principle in adult learning. It is believed that people don’t learn by sitting still and listening to lectures. Instead, they learn best by being active.
This could mean that employees can be the trainers, participating in Q&A sessions, sharing their knowledge, and performing hands-on learning. Training that encourages active participation by workers will result in a better workplace.