Five Easy Ways to Make Safety Training Engaging and Effective

Safety in the workplace is an extremely important matter in all different professions, but it’s not often one that gets employees excited. “Many employers are on the lookout for ways to make this topic more fun and inspiring.” states Health and Safety expert, Shannon Mills, from HSE.gov. So we’ve listed five simple ways for you to turn safety training into less of a drag while ensuring that your employees are taking in all the important information.

Try and be concise

As tempting as it may be to complete the safety training in one day, it’s advisable to split the training into separate sessions. It’s much easier for employees to take in information in shorter bite-sized sessions. Hold the first session first thing in the morning and focus on the most important information. Shorter meeting times will also ensure that your employees do not lose interest. When your employees know that this won’t be an all-day affair, they’ll be more inclined to remain alert and engaged.

Use visual aids

It has been proven that it’s much easier for people to take in complex information when provided together with a visual image. Try and keep the text in your presentations short and sweet, and pair your messages with interesting and eye catching images.

Incorporate real life scenarios

Employees will find it easier to take in and remember the safety information if they can relate how it applies to their everyday working life. You can even make the sessions more interactive by including employees with role play activities. For instance, they could play out potentially dangerous scenarios that may occur, and act out the proper safety procedures.

Choose the right trainer

There is no doubt that safety training can be a dry subject, so it really helps to try and incorporate a level of humour and storytelling to the presentation. An engaging presentation style is key in ensuring that employees remain tuned in for the course of the training session. A toolbox talk from CNB Safe: Safety Speakers, for example, will provide a “quick informal chat amongst employees and management ” that are interactive and highly informative. When there’s an engaging safety expert in the room, your employees will stay attentive and interested in the subject.

Integrate games into the training session

In order to ensure that employees have taken in all the information given to them through the course of the session, try and include some fun game at the end of the session. This could test their knowledge and also make the session a little more exciting. Some examples of games that you could include could be a quiz game where employees are placed into groups and have to guess which safety procedure is the correct one for which scenario. You could also offer small prizes to incentivise involvement and engagement.

Hopefully, the above quick and simple tips will help turn your safety training session into an inspiring lesson that will no doubt keep all employees safe and well-prepared.