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CONTENTS

NATLSCO (cover page)

OSHA’s new Cold Stress Card offers tips to protect outdoor workers

Have you followed all of OSHA's Noise Standard requirements?

These tips will help you avoid employee apathy during training

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These tips will help you avoid employee apathy during training

by Ray Tancredi, CIH

Conducting demonstrations with real safety gear, such as this chemical splash suit, is an excellent way to keep employees interested.

One of the key components in a safety process is training. Training is provided to help prevent accidents from occurring by providing employees with the information and procedures necessary to perform their jobs safely.

An effective training program will ultimately reduce injuries and save bottom-line dollars.

At times, the training provided does not have its desired impact as employees continue to be injured or procedures continue to not be followed.

One of the primary factors that can result in poor retention and learning is boredom. A bored employee is less likely to learn what you are trying to teach.

Employees may become bored when:

• Safety training is repetitive. Employees may have attended the same presentation numerous times to meet annual training requirements.

• Employee attitude is bad. Many employees do not consider safety a priority in their lives. Employees may feel accidents will only happen to “others.” As a result, they feel the training session is unimportant to their job or off-work activities.

• Presentations are often lecture-heavy. Even if technically accurate information is being presented, a lecture-heavy format can result in the employees quickly losing interest in the training.

Better attention to the presentation usually will result in better retention of the training material. To keep your employees interested in your safety presentation:

• Be positive and upbeat. As the trainer, you should demonstrate an interest in the training topic and be enthusiastic while presenting the session. If the employees see that you have a passion for the session you are presenting, they become more involved in the presentation.

• Make it relevant. Ask employees how being injured will affect their quality of life away from the job. Elicit responses on how an injury could impact employees, their families and the activities they enjoy doing.

• Keep it interesting. In today’s world, individuals are focused on action. Use videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs and online training tools that contain energetic music and colorful graphics. If the presentation uses overheads, be sure they are in color and present only the key points.

• Conduct live demonstrations with real equipment and gear. For instance, if employees are attending a class on chemical safety and how to protect themselves from harmful industrial chemicals, the instructor could bring in and demonstrate the use of a real chemical splash suit. Better yet, the instructor could require all those in attendance to try on the suit. Live demonstrations using real props, as well as full class participation, always make a training session more interesting.

• Use humor. Humorous visuals will help keep the attention of employees. Humor can be used effectively to help get key points across.

By taking steps to eliminate boredom from your safety presentations, the effectiveness of your training will increase. Employees will look forward to your training sessions and, ultimately, employee injuries will be reduced.

For more information or assistance about this topic, please contact:

Robert Murphy
Natlsco Risk and Safety Consulting
Phone: (800) 323-9585, ext. 5466
Fax: (847) 726-5271
E-mail: rmurphy@us.bureauveritas.com