NASSCO Report – Delivering the Best Workplace Safety Training

Have you ever attended a safety training class that puts you to sleep? In most cases, it’s probably not that the instructor didn’t know the material but more likely the information wasn’t presented in an interesting and effective manner. This article will cover some basic concepts that can boost your safety training program. 

Workplace safety training is a process whereby employers educate employees on safe work practices. This usually includes topics like work hazards, work safe behaviors, reporting unsafe acts and, of course, regulatory safety compliance. Understanding that while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a federal agency that issues laws and regulations that employees must abide by and thus require training, it does not mean that the training should be boring. 

Typically, as safety and health professionals, we learn the technical aspects of our craft but are usually not given training on how to effectively train others. One of the key starting points for safety trainers is to understand the adult learning process. It is critical to remember that as adults we learn differently than children.

Here are a few points to help instructors better understand adult safety education: 

• Adults have many years of experiences that affect their learning ability.
• Adults learn more effectively when they realize that the information being taught is specific to their job.
• Adult learners attend training with established habits and ideas.
• Workers have different experiences over their careers that could change their attitude about learning and should be considered when training.
• Adult attention spans vary by audience.
• Adults want to share their own personal safety experiences on a given topic.

In addition to understanding these basic concepts of educating adults, one of the more critical first steps to designing and implementing a solid safety training program is to complete a needs assessment. Simply put, a needs assessment helps the trainer and the company understand what causes a need for training. Without a complete needs assessment, it is impossible for the trainer to be properly prepared. 

 A well-built safety training needs assessment should answer the following questions:

1. Who requested the training? 
2. Who needs the training, and why?
3. What kind of training do they need? 
4. What training have they received to date?
5. What is the educational level of the students?
6. What are the key learning objectives?
7. Will management reinforce training best practices?

Now that the needs assessment is complete, the trainer can move forward to establish the goals and objectives of the safety training. In other words, if the training is successful, what will the student walk away knowing?

Organization is also very important. As safety trainers, make sure that you organize your training so that students feel confident in your ability. Being organized also helps the instructor cover all the necessary safety information.

Here are a few key concepts to consider when organizing your training:

• Start with simple general concepts and then transition to more complex ones, if needed.
• Create a training outline from the needs assessment and the objectives. This outline ensures you are focused and stay on topic.
• Choose a presentation format that makes sense for your audience and keeps things interesting. 
• Engage the students as much as possible.

Lastly, how you as a trainer appear and sound is critical. Do not forget to bring energy and enthusiasm to the course as this can make a huge difference to your adult learners and their ability to absorb the subject matter. 

In summary, in order the put together a great safety training course the instructor needs to have a solid understanding of how adults learn, conduct a complete safety training needs assessment, identify goals and key learning objectives, use a solid safety training organizational format, and arrive with an instructional presence that instills confidence in your ability to present the material.

By using these key components, the result will be an effective safety training course where students will learn and, most importantly, use their knowledge to stay safe.

Dennis Pivin, CSP, CHST, CIT, is director of health, safety and environmental at NASSCO, as well as chair of the NASSCO Health and Safety Committee.