While computers, recording technology (cell phones/tablets) and streaming services have evolved the capabilities of completing safety training, the question remains, is computer based learning and video based safety training as effective in eliminating workplace incidents/changing behavior as it is sold to be?
Before we answer that question it is important to remember that everyone has different goals when it comes to workplace safety performance.
Most decisions such as the strategy to complete safety training, particulars of your safety policies, and going above and beyond OSHA minimum requirements, bottle down to how you want your Safety Culture to perform and what you want it to look like.
As we look at the Safety Culture Maturity Matrix Below there are several reasons you may elect to utilize Computer Based Safety Training to accomplish your objectives. Some of the main explanations that we receive include:
- Compliance: The organization is concerned that their internal safety trainings are not OSHA compliant. Therefore they elect to purchase external training that are normally in the form of safety training videos that are in fact OSHA Compliant.
- Spread out Workforces: Many workforces are not centralized to one building/reporting location anymore. Workers are dispatching straight from the house and work remotely. It can be difficult to schedule the entire workforce to travel to one location for a routine LOTO Awareness Training. For this reason many companies elect to utilize computer based safety trainings. Each worker gets an account, and is assigned training that they can complete at their discretion.
- Round the Clock Work shifts: Even if it is physically feasible to have all of your workers at one centralized location, rolling shifts demand multiple training sessions are conducted to accomplish the task. These businesses way out the pros and cons and elect to utilize computer based safety training in order to not tax their in house safety professional.
- Signing the roster: You can conduct the most in depth, useful, and informative safety training but inevitably someone will forget to sign the training roster or right “chicken scratch” to the point that you have no idea who actually sat through the training. These companies look at computer based safety training as a way to ensure everyone who attends training, can be accounted for.
These arguments for computer based safety training are valid but what is the goal and purpose of Safety Training? As a Safety Professional your number one job is to prevent incidents from occurring and to maintain a positive safety culture that employees are confident & competent in.
What are workforces saying about Computer Based Safety Training?
In a survey published by Kaltura in 2019, 67% of employees said they do not give a training video their full attention. They skim through videos, watch videos without sound, or listen to it while doing something else. Only 28% say that they always pay attention to training videos.
There are certainly other statistics that would point the other direction and showcase the benefits of conducting computer based safety trainings, however it is always important to vet the source of the studies. More and more often advertising agencies pay for surveys and can manipulate data to suggest that buying their product will solve all of your problems.
If simply complying with governmental standards is your goal, by all means, conduct as much computer based safety training as you desire. ( Keep reading for our solution to this problem).
B42L Approach To Safety Training
Whether is is a simple tool box talk, a full on slide deck presentation, or an 8hr training with us, our goal with all of our Safety Training is to make sure the message is communicated effectively, and that is keeps workers safe.
How B42L Conducts Safety Training
B42L takes the same approach when creating any form of safety discussion.
- Ensure it is compliant with all OSHA requirements. Even though we want our message to be unique, in order for us to lower our partner’s risk, we must communicate the necessary information for legal purposes.
- Make it understandable & relatable. There is nothing worse than a monotone safety training video that utilizes technical language and tone. These types of trainings do not engage the worker regardless of how many “Knoweledge Checks” are embedded into the video. Workers must feel at some level connected to the message that is being delivered to them or they will disengage.
- Make it interesting. All B42L toolbox talks, slide deck presentations, and blended learning trainings (lecture based/hands on components), are designed with the student/worker in mind. We outline statisitcs that get the worker thinking, give real world examples the worker could come across, and outline thought provoking language that keeps the worker receptive.
- Make it trackable. All technology is not created equally. There are many benefits of using technology to aid in completing safety training. The technology B42L uses to track the completion of safety training/record keeping is meant only to verify training has been completed, and to add to the overall experience. Too often Safety Training Products are utilized improperly and become the end all be all of completing safety training. All of our rosters are time stamped upon completion, with rolling rosters. Training can be completed/viewed remotely and in the field at any time. After completing, participants simply click a link, and type their credentials. See, we accomplished effective safety training without completely throwing a menial task at our workers!
Obtaining and Maintaining a Mature Safety Culture
This is not an overnight task to complete. Like all things it takes time, focus, and consistency. However we have seen it done for those organizations who are truly committed to maintaining safe working conditions for their teams.
The more often you engage your employees, demonstrate your value in their safety, and invest in their well beings, you will see a massive positive safety culture shift. Simply having them tune into the latest episode of “Safety Training Video Series” will not yield the results that all of the tech companies claim it will.
If you’re interested in becoming a Fractional Partner with B42L or learning more about our Safety Training Solutions, please reach out to info@b42l.com or call 412-216-9427.
