Let’s face it, safety training can be a little bit dry and albeit dull. Despite trainers and safety professionals doing their best to present material in an engaging way, the truth of that matter is that your learning curriculum can end up stale and repetitive.

Even the best safety instructors struggle with capturing attention during a presentation. In fact, in a survey sent out to over 600 training professionals, a large segment said that engagement was their biggest and toughest challenge.

So how can you solve the dreaded safety training boredom? The solution lies in both the resources AND the way it’s administered to employees. In order to effectively train employees, both of them have to nurture engagement. Here’s how.

Maintaining Group Interest

Employees are already expecting boredom the minute they hear “we’re having a safety meeting/training class today.” You can practically hear the collective groan and their minds shut down. 

Employees are faced with daunting day to day tasks leaving their thoughts to wander elsewhere when they aren't entertained. Harnessing the ability to capture their minds for the duration of your meeting doesn't have to be impossible. Here's a breakdown of techniques commonly used by other instructors.

• Humor - Using a little humor in your safety training is not against any rules. In fact, it's encouraged. A funny joke, photo, or video can be the difference between a somber boring atmosphere or one that grabs attention and invites collective engagement. If you can get your employees to laugh, you can get them to learn what you're teaching. 
  
  
• Interactive Role-Playing - Involving your trainees in made-up safety scenarios is a perfect hands-on approach. Setting up live scenes that feature daily hazards and getting your employees to step-in really helps them be in the moment. Making decisions and dealing with the repercussions in a made-up scenario is also a great way to observe what is regularly missed. You can address this openly with everyone and cover all your bases. 
  
  
• Participation and Involvement - Encouraging input from your audience and asking questions is a great way to get them to participate. Involving open discussions and communication allows employees to feel heard. It also allows for more in-depth dialogue which is perfect for a full understanding of regulations and standards that apply to their job functions. 
  
  
• Real Life Scenarios - What's more of an eye opener than seeing real-life events? Real people in real situations that lead to really serious outcomes. You can create your own scenarios that include your employees, reference true stories, and stream videos that show real events of hazards in action. This tactic hits home while relaying the importance of workplace awareness.     
  
  
• Competition  - Games can be an interesting twist to your training routine. Pitting employees against each other in friendly competition will keep them wide awake without fail. This technique keeps their adrenaline pumping and brains working at full force. Jeopardy, The Weakest Link, and any games that involve questions or quizzes are commonly used. You can always add your own spin on things and even hand out prizes to the winning team.  
  
  
• Shock Value - Nothing can get you to remember something better than a situation that can invoke emotions. This technique can involve creating or showing a dangerous situation and offering safety tips or tidbits of information during the entire presentation. Shock value can also be applied to telling a story or showing a video of relevant safety hazards. This method is meant to leave a lasting impression and shock employees into being safer or they will end up dealing with unfortunate consequences. 

Those methods are great to start with but what if you need good training content to show?

The Right Content For The Job

Nothing ignites safety training boredom more than the same old training materials used over and over again. Choosing training material is pertinent when it comes to relaying the right information that's specific to each employee's job functions. It's also just as important to update your training routine to prevent monotony. 

The ideal content for most trainers is simple:

• Up-to-date and Compliant (goodbye bell bottoms and shoulder pads!)
• Rich Content that Educates
• Engaging
• Live Scenario Based Footage

A vast library with topics that cover each department in your company and doesn't skimp on quality sounds fitting, right? So does access to hundreds of other resources like PowerPoints, checklists, infographics, etc. That's where SafetySoft comes in. Whether it's classroom-based training with a group or one-on-one eLearning on a computer, it's nice to have a versatile library that can do both.

Stream our video library for your meetings with access to printable materials to handout. This way you have unlimited options to choose from for your next training and you can feel secure knowing the content is always up-to-date.  

Interested in online training? We have you covered. The SafetySoft platform offers a personalized company portal that employees can log in to for training. Employees will then be given their own, unique custom learning experience that they can complete at their leisure. Rather than the “sitting and listening,” this method allows employees to “learn and respond.”

Interested in hearing more? Click Here to see the difference SafetySoft can make.