Page 30 - OHS, FebruaryMarch 2023

CONSTRUCTION SAFETY When workers believe their employer cares about them as a person, they are happier and more likely to stay put. can improve employee retention by over 10 percent. ThThe research covered skills-based training that improved employee productivity, which likely excludes most standard safety compliance training. But non-mandatory safety training, such as human factors education, will both keep people safer and keep them from leaving. Human factors training can also be efficient compared to off-site trade certifications (at the cost of a few hours compared to a few hundred hours) or ongoing compliance training. After an initial introduction to human factors concepts, skills can be developed over time in the flow of work with continuous learning, practice exercises, storytelling and targeted communications with a safety climate led by effective frontline supervisors. s Safety training also serves your skilled employees who are at a greater flight risk. A recent study in the International Journal of Human Resource Management discovered that job-related training But if full-fledged training of all employees isn’t a viable option, then consider narrowing your focus to only frontline supervisors. They are one of the key determinants of an employee’s overall level of job satisfaction, and boosting supervisors’ ability to engage employees will also increase the company’s ability to retain them. The ideal fit is a training initiative that provides frontline leaders with a suite of soft skills that can be applied specifically to safety issues, as well as more generally to employee engagement. This might include improving their ability to relate to employees while delivering toolbox talks or on how to intervene in a positive and constructive manner when they notice workers engaging in unsafe actions. Both of these options—improving the capabilities of s worth spending money to train employees when one in 20 workers will leave the company every month. But now that those rates are dramatically lower, the investment in safety training is much less likely to walk out the door. Doubly so because the employees who will most benefit from certain types of training, especially personal awareness safety training, are those who are least job-mobile. h ha a a al l w w a a y ys sb be ee en n t t h h a a t t e e m m p p l lo oy ye e e e t tu ur r n n o ov v e e r rw w a as s t to o o oh hi i g gh h— — i it t w wa a s sn n ’ ’ t t 30 Occupational Health & Safety | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023 Untitled-51 1 www.ohsonline.com 2/7/22 11:45 AM