How to Make Health and Safety Training Fun for Employees

Tips for Making Health and Safety Training Fun, Engaging, and Successful

Workplace safety training often gets a bad rap for being dull and uninspiring. Even though we all know it’s important to reducing workplace incidents and building a safety culture, the challenge is to make it engaging enough for employees to really pay attention, grasp what’s important, and apply what they’ve learned. In this article, we’ll explore new ways to make health and safety training fun and effective, ensuring your employees stay engaged and motivated.

Old School Safety Training: Aka The Yawn Fest

Let’s be honest—traditional safety training can feel like watching paint dry. Endless hour-long sessions with PowerPoint slides that look like they were designed in the ’90s, old DVDs that can double as sleep aids, and videos that sound like they’re from another century. Have you ever heard “Death by Powerpoint [1]” ? It’s true, and it’s as painful as it sounds. Heads to head, people checking their phones every five minutes, and a room full of empty people. Sound familiar? Then read on…

From Boring to Loving: The Art of Storytelling in Coaching

Safety training doesn’t have to be a drag. Put some life into it by telling a story! Instead of dry, theoretical lessons, use real-world situations to make the training relevant and practical.

Share interesting stories of past incidents or near misses to highlight important safety lessons. For example, you might show how quick thinking saved the day on a close call or how an accident could have been worse. Remember, these stories should not just focus on the problem; they should also celebrate good results, make those lessons stick with everyone!

Storytelling and the Science Behind It

In a series of experiments, neuroeconomics expert Paul Zak [2] explore how storytelling profoundly affects our brains. In one experiment, Zak and his team had volunteers watch two different versions of a video about a dying boy. The first version featured a powerful narrative that captivated viewers, while the second was straightforward and lacked emotional impact. Blood samples were collected from the participants before and after watching the video to measure the results.

The results were impressive. Those who watched the video with the story experienced a measurable increase in oxytocin, a powerful chemical that plays an important role in bonding and building trust. [4]. In this experiment, the emotional connection that people felt while watching a compelling narrative was explored.

When used in safety training, storytelling becomes an important tool because it evokes empathy. This sensitivity makes employees remember important lessons and care about safety, as they connect emotionally with the work. To really evoke an emotional response, focus on telling stories that are emotional and feel real. For example, sharing the thoughts of the characters in your stories helps your audience connect on a human level, making them feel more involved in the situation. It’s all about creating that relational bond!

Add a Sprinkling of Humor

Adding humor to your safety training can make it fun and memorable. You don’t have to make it a one-man show, but a few funny moments can really lighten the mood. For example, if you use slides, throw in some safety videos or funny memes. Humor helps everyone relax and remember important points better. Plus, it creates team spirit—it shows that we’re in this together.

Better Retention with Bite-Sized Learning

Our Attention Deficits

With the rise of digital devices, the internet, and social media, researchers have found that our attention spans are decreasing… [3]. This means that long traditional training sessions do not work well for students who may struggle to stay focused throughout. That’s why attention-grabbing techniques combined with short training sessions can significantly increase retention rates.

Make it digestible

Limited reading refers to small chunks of information delivered in short, focused summaries. Also called microlearning, these five- to ten-minute modules on specific topics can be very effective. It meets the needs of today’s students by simplifying complex concepts into easy-to-understand content. Using this method of health and safety training is good as it breaks the material into small, memorable modules. Interactive quizzes and reminders between modules keep staff engaged and reinforce important concepts. The advantages of microlearning are:

1. It improves engagement and motivation by breaking content into manageable chunks
2. It improves focus by reducing distractions and targeting specific learning goals
3. It encourages self-paced learning allowing people to progress at their own pace
4. It facilitates better retention by delivering content when it is most relevant
5. It improves accessibility in user-friendly formats that can be accessed anytime, anywhere
6. It encourages rapid application of knowledge, leading to rapid skill development

Move Reminders

Use nudges—small, timely reminders—with push notifications to reinforce important security practices after a session. For example, you can have a nudge to remind employees to wear the proper PPE at the start of their shift or a nudge reminder to double-check things before leaving the house each morning. To learn more about migration ideas check out our digital migration guide for more information.

Use Technology to Create Engaging Experiences

Gamification

Turn safety training into a game! By playing the game, employees can earn badges, win certificates, and track progress as they complete modules. Keep things fun by letting them compete for high scores or reach milestones in safety challenges. Coaching is like a journey—rewarding and inspiring.

Mobile applications

Deliver fast, engaging courses through mobile apps, so employees can learn anytime, anywhere. Whether it’s during a coffee break or between tasks, employees can easily fit training into their day, completing sessions at their own pace. It’s also great for employees who can’t attend live sessions or work remotely.

Inquiry-Based Learning

Reinforce learning with quick quizzes after each session. Employees can earn points, compete with peers, and stay engaged, all while making sure they grasp important safety concepts.

Involve Everyone

Employee-Led Storytelling

Allow employees to share their stories or examples, it makes them think about their actions and safety and helps reinforce the message. For example, you might encourage someone to think about their most recent close call. Ask them to think about what happened, why it happened, and how bad it could have been. This kind of introspection can be really insightful and, who knows, it might even lead to some funny stories along the way!

Teamwork

Encourage teams to collaborate effectively in analyzing security incident issues, allowing them to understand the underlying factors that contribute to these incidents. By examining these situations in detail, team members can propose well-thought-out prevention strategies that are relevant to their specific context.

Peer-Led Training Sessions

Let employees take the initiative to lead short training segments. By allowing team members to share their expertise and insights, you not only differentiate the training process but also foster a culture of continuous learning and collaboration. This helps employees improve their presentation and leadership skills, and improves the learning experience for everyone involved. You may be surprised and find that you have the most talented speakers in the group.

Reward, See, and Remind

Recognition and Rewards

Appreciate employees who are fully engaged in training. Seeing their hard work in completing modules or sharing smart stories can really motivate your troops. This recognition can come in many forms of entertainment, such as verbal praise, or offering incentives such as prizes or gift cards.

Continuous Improvement

Building a culture of safety is not something one person does; it goes beyond training sessions. It’s all about keeping the momentum going with continuous testing and development. After completing training, use prompts to remind employees of important safety behaviors. After all, safety is a journey, not a destination!

Track Progress

Looking at Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is essential for tracking your progress and measuring how well your efforts are doing. Think of KPIs as your trusty compass—they give you valuable insights to help you see what’s working and where you might need to improve. Want to dive deeper? Check out our recent post on key security KPIs to track.

Conclusion: Making Health and Safety Training Fun!

To wrap things up, effective safety training is not just about sharing information; it’s about creating an engaging and memorable learning experience. Think engaging lessons, interactive technology, humor, and employee engagement—all combined with training that really works!

Sources:

[1] The death of Powerpoint

[2] Why Inspirational Stories Make Us Respond: The Neuroscience of Narrative – Paul J. Zak

[3] Talking Psychology: Why our attention spans are shrinking, by Gloria Mark, PhD

[4] Storytelling and the Brain: Understanding the Neuroscience Behind Our Love for Stories

Originally published on www.youfactors.com.