10 tips for making it stick
Back-aches. Crushed legs. Concussions. These are some of the consequences of on-the-job health and safety training. Workers who get injured on the job will remember the lessons they learned for the rest of their lives — if they are among the lucky who survive workplace accidents. But there are less painful ways to make health and safety training memorable. Here are 10 tips for making the training stick.
1. Let them talk: “Never make a statement if you can ask a question,” said Pat Striewe, a training representative with the Workers Health and Safety Centre in Toronto. “People have a lot of knowledge and experience from working on the job. Get them to talk. You may be surprised at how much they know. You can then skip slides on the information that they already know, and focus on gaps in their knowledge.”
Even the driest topic in health and safety training becomes interesting and memorable when trainees are encouraged to talk about it.
2. Make it relevant: It is easier to remember the content when the training is relevant to the job. If employees cannot see the link between the two, they are less likely to remember and use the new knowledge.
“We use specific examples in the joint health and safety committee training on chemicals in the workplace,” said Elizabeth Rankin, senior occupational health and safety consultant at law firm Gowlings’ Employment and Labour Group in Toronto. “If people are in food services, then the examples of chemicals are alcohol and explosive flour dust. If people are from manufacturing, all examples are common industrial chemicals.”
3. Limit the lectures: Lectures are a great way of giving health and safety information to large groups. However, with too much lecturing people will start fidgeting, if they haven’t already fallen asleep. Trainers should break long lectures into 15-minute mini-lectures. People are more likely to remember the content if it is broken down into smaller chunks.
4. Link experiences: In addition to showing workers the link between training and their jobs, trainers can show them parallels between what they do at home and on the job.
“I start a seminar on handling chemicals by getting people to mix a small amount of common household cleaning products,” said Dan McGarry, of office furniture manufacturer Global Wood Group Inc. in Toronto, who has been providing health and safety training for 15 years. “They watch as the chemicals react. Now, they see why all chemicals must be labelled and stored properly. They also understand why they must read the labels.”
5. Get physical: Trainers should incorporate physical movement into the training. Working in stretching or breathing exercises every 45 to 60 minutes can make a big difference. Or trainers could have participants walk across the room to finish a task. Moving around increases the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain, which helps keep trainees awake.
Ergonomics workshops often start with a lecture on the effects of poorly designed or used equipment on physical and mental health. But there is a more active way to grab learners’ attention. Hold the workshop in a computer lab where the chairs, desks and computers are all at odd heights and angles. People will fiddle with the furniture and equipment as they try to get comfortable. The audience is now primed to learn about good ergonomics because they have just experienced bad ergonomics.
6. Keep it fresh: Trainers should change training activities every 20 to 30 minutes. Learners need variety to keep them interested and make the training memorable. Trainers can use different methods such as case studies, videos and worksheets to cover a topic. All written material should consist of plain language and short sentences so it’s easy to read. Adding pictures, graphs and cartoons to hand-outs and slides breaks up long blocks of written words and makes information more memorable.
7. Keep it light: Trainers should build fun activities into the seminars. The fun stuff helps change the mood of the seminar and varies the pace of learning. At the Workers Health and Safety Centre’s seminar on indoor quality, learners play the game show Jeopardy! and all the questions relate to the topic, said Striewe.
During its job safety analysis seminar, Gowlings’ Employment and Labour Group uses the absurd example of changing a light-bulb using a 10-inch ladder.
“People remember it and can relate to it even if they are from construction, mining or health-care sectors. It is a fun way for them to understand safety analysis,” said Rankin.
8. Create a hit: Organizations need to create excitement around the training so employees want to go and want to learn. To make the training a hit, managers and supervisors need to be on board too. When supervisors talk about the training and ask workers how it went, not only do they help increase the excitement about the training, they’re also reinforcing the safety standards and procedures back on the job.
9. Fear factor: Fear can be a powerful motivator for remembering the training. To take advantage of this emotion, trainers can show pictures of people injured in workplace accidents. They can also list the names of all those who died on the job and give statistics on the number and types of workplace injuries. The reality of what they can lose can make workers realize health and safety training is crucial.
10. Repeat, refresh and retrain: Health and safety training must keep pace with changes in the workplace. There may be new hazards, procedures or chemicals on the job. Trainers need to build in practice time in the workshops so workers can repeat the new procedures until they are comfortable. Employers should also schedule short but frequent seminars to refresh workers on topics that are complex or very dangerous and plan to retrain them often.
Jacqueline Scott is a writer and consultant with Praxis Research and Training. She can be reached at (416) 539-8182 or [email protected].
1. Let them talk: “Never make a statement if you can ask a question,” said Pat Striewe, a training representative with the Workers Health and Safety Centre in Toronto. “People have a lot of knowledge and experience from working on the job. Get them to talk. You may be surprised at how much they know. You can then skip slides on the information that they already know, and focus on gaps in their knowledge.”
Even the driest topic in health and safety training becomes interesting and memorable when trainees are encouraged to talk about it.
2. Make it relevant: It is easier to remember the content when the training is relevant to the job. If employees cannot see the link between the two, they are less likely to remember and use the new knowledge.
“We use specific examples in the joint health and safety committee training on chemicals in the workplace,” said Elizabeth Rankin, senior occupational health and safety consultant at law firm Gowlings’ Employment and Labour Group in Toronto. “If people are in food services, then the examples of chemicals are alcohol and explosive flour dust. If people are from manufacturing, all examples are common industrial chemicals.”
3. Limit the lectures: Lectures are a great way of giving health and safety information to large groups. However, with too much lecturing people will start fidgeting, if they haven’t already fallen asleep. Trainers should break long lectures into 15-minute mini-lectures. People are more likely to remember the content if it is broken down into smaller chunks.
4. Link experiences: In addition to showing workers the link between training and their jobs, trainers can show them parallels between what they do at home and on the job.
“I start a seminar on handling chemicals by getting people to mix a small amount of common household cleaning products,” said Dan McGarry, of office furniture manufacturer Global Wood Group Inc. in Toronto, who has been providing health and safety training for 15 years. “They watch as the chemicals react. Now, they see why all chemicals must be labelled and stored properly. They also understand why they must read the labels.”
5. Get physical: Trainers should incorporate physical movement into the training. Working in stretching or breathing exercises every 45 to 60 minutes can make a big difference. Or trainers could have participants walk across the room to finish a task. Moving around increases the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain, which helps keep trainees awake.
Ergonomics workshops often start with a lecture on the effects of poorly designed or used equipment on physical and mental health. But there is a more active way to grab learners’ attention. Hold the workshop in a computer lab where the chairs, desks and computers are all at odd heights and angles. People will fiddle with the furniture and equipment as they try to get comfortable. The audience is now primed to learn about good ergonomics because they have just experienced bad ergonomics.
6. Keep it fresh: Trainers should change training activities every 20 to 30 minutes. Learners need variety to keep them interested and make the training memorable. Trainers can use different methods such as case studies, videos and worksheets to cover a topic. All written material should consist of plain language and short sentences so it’s easy to read. Adding pictures, graphs and cartoons to hand-outs and slides breaks up long blocks of written words and makes information more memorable.
7. Keep it light: Trainers should build fun activities into the seminars. The fun stuff helps change the mood of the seminar and varies the pace of learning. At the Workers Health and Safety Centre’s seminar on indoor quality, learners play the game show Jeopardy! and all the questions relate to the topic, said Striewe.
During its job safety analysis seminar, Gowlings’ Employment and Labour Group uses the absurd example of changing a light-bulb using a 10-inch ladder.
“People remember it and can relate to it even if they are from construction, mining or health-care sectors. It is a fun way for them to understand safety analysis,” said Rankin.
8. Create a hit: Organizations need to create excitement around the training so employees want to go and want to learn. To make the training a hit, managers and supervisors need to be on board too. When supervisors talk about the training and ask workers how it went, not only do they help increase the excitement about the training, they’re also reinforcing the safety standards and procedures back on the job.
9. Fear factor: Fear can be a powerful motivator for remembering the training. To take advantage of this emotion, trainers can show pictures of people injured in workplace accidents. They can also list the names of all those who died on the job and give statistics on the number and types of workplace injuries. The reality of what they can lose can make workers realize health and safety training is crucial.
10. Repeat, refresh and retrain: Health and safety training must keep pace with changes in the workplace. There may be new hazards, procedures or chemicals on the job. Trainers need to build in practice time in the workshops so workers can repeat the new procedures until they are comfortable. Employers should also schedule short but frequent seminars to refresh workers on topics that are complex or very dangerous and plan to retrain them often.
Jacqueline Scott is a writer and consultant with Praxis Research and Training. She can be reached at (416) 539-8182 or [email protected].
