How can you make your safety training more engaging?

Let’s be frank, training days are rarely anyone’s idea of fun. While we can universally acknowledge their important, they are very rarely looked forward to. This, however, doesn’t have to be the case.

With the right approach, safety training sessions can be made more enjoyable. Not only does this make the sessions less tedious, when safety training is made to be entertaining, it’s far more likely to be effective. Wondering how to make a dry subject more enticing? Here are our top tips for spicing up training day:

• Inject some humour: When trainees are expecting a boredom-filled day, a few jokes will considerably lighten the mood. Some humour will make the day more enjoyable for trainees and trainer alike. If you’re struggling for material, consider using humorous safety videos. There are plenty available online.

• Include games: Another way to make a training day more fun is with the inclusion of a couple of games. Introduce an interactive game to introduce certain topics. Split trainees into groups to boost collaboration and a little, good-humoured competitivity. Competition also provides an incentive, and encourages participation. You can also provide rewards, which adds an additional motivation for trainees.

• Use different formats: Different people learn in different ways. Don’t just stick to one format, switch it up by using a variety of learning materials and teaching methods. From visual aids and presentations to videos, mix it up, as it will help to keep things interesting.

• Keep things brief: Safety training needn’t drag on all day. If you have a lot of material to cover, split the learning out across multiple, brief sessions. That way, trainees are more likely to stay engaged, and therefore retain the information.

• Include new examples: If your training stays the same year on year, chances are employees are beginning to find it tedious. Try to switch up the examples you provide, as this will help to keep things fresh.

No matter how fun you make your training sessions, it’s important to reinforce safe practices on the job. Regular reinforcement will ensure employees remember their training and stay safe at work. To see how well the information has been retained, conduct regular safety surveys to test your employee’s knowledge. To try to encourage knowledge retention, you could consider offering incentives for safe behaviour in the weeks following the training session.