Page 28 - OHS, February/March 2025

T R A I N I N G : S O F T W A R E
With the right foundation,
your training program can foster a culture
where everyone from the front line to the
C-suite puts safety fi rst.
evant, consider punctuating your content
with photos of injuries — used sparingly
and with warning — to underscore the
risks of unsafe practices.
Employee interviews: It’s one thing to
listen to a voiceover about a specifi c safety
scenario, but it’s another thing to hear a
colleague talk about their own injury ex-
perience. For instance, imagine watching
a worker share how they lost their ability
to play guitar aft er injuring their hand at a
pinch point on a suspended crane load. Per-
sonal narratives like this one carry an emo-
tional weight that leaves a lasting impression.
With tailored, narrative-driven content,
you can provide highly relevant training
that reinforces the practical nature of each
policy and procedure.
3. Keep Cognitive Science in Mind
Information overload is one of the biggest
pitfalls of every training program. Th at’s
because many don’t take into account the
cognitive science behind learning.
Adults have an average attention span
of 47 seconds2 – and most can only hold
about seven “chunks” of information in
their working memory (plus or minus two,
according to Miller’s Law3). Give employ-
ees too much information at once, and it’s
likely to go in one ear and out the other.
To hold employees’ attention, it’s im-
portant to keep things as brief and simple
as possible. It’s important to strike the right
balance, though. You don’t want things to
be so simple that users can fi nish a mod-
ule in a couple of clicks. But you also don’t
want to overcomplicate the learning expe-
rience and turn it into a burden.
My recommendation? Consider optimiz-
ing your content delivery with a blend of:
Short video segments: Th ese break
up dense material into digestible chunks,
keeping employees engaged without sacri-
fi cing depth.
Mixed media: Alongside video, incor-
porating animations, slides, and infograph-
ics can add variety and cater your train-
ing material to diff erent learning styles.
To spice things up even further, consider
adding interactive diagrams or fl owcharts
that make it easier to understand complex
safety and compliance protocols.
Gamifi cation elements: Point systems,
leaderboards, or rewards can gently incen-
tivize workers to stay on top of their safety
and compliance training.
Th e takeaway: a science-informed ap-
proach can help you eff ectively commu-
nicate key material without overloading
learners.
4. Assess Knowledge Retention
Early and Often
Most safety and compliance training pro-
grams have some form of knowledge evalu-
ation, like a graded test at the end of each
learning module. Th ese are crucial – but
they shouldn’t be the only way you assess
knowledge retention. Frequent, low-stakes
check-ins make it easier for employees to
understand, recall, and apply critical safety
and compliance information.
Consider a daily, ungraded “knowledge
check,” for instance – it can keep safety top
of mind at the start of each workday. If you
recently held a toolbox talk about lockout-
tagout procedures, you might push a one-
question quiz via your mobile app to see
whether the right information stuck.
You can get creative with things, too.
One of my favorite ways to assess knowl-
edge is through choose-your-own-out-
come scenarios that let employees explore
diff erent actions and their consequences.
For instance, imagine an interactive
module on pedestrian safety when cross-
ing the street to access an auto shop. Your
26 Occupational Health & Safety | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2025 module might give users the option to use a
crosswalk or jaywalk — and enter the shop
through the man door or a bay door. Each
decision will lead to diff erent outcomes:
jaywalking might result in a near miss with
oncoming traffi c, while using the bay door
might cause a scrape with a vehicle.
Modules like these let employees put
their knowledge to use in a practical and
engaging setting. And explanations for safe
and unsafe actions are great tools for rein-
forcing information.
As you test employees’ knowledge reten-
tion, use the results — even if technically un-
graded — to learn what’s sticking and where
employees may need additional support. Th is
way, you can proactively address information
gaps before they lead to costly incidents.
Lay a Strong Foundation
for Your Safety Culture
As a safety professional, you know the enor-
mous value of safety and compliance training:
it’s an investment in your team’s wellbeing and
can protect your company’s bottom line.
But a training program is only as good
as the tools used to administer it. In other
words, you need great tech that helps you
meet employees’ training needs, conduct
regular inspections, and evaluate compli-
ance progress on an ongoing basis.
Pair best-in-class soft ware with thought-
ful program design, and you’ll be well po-
sitioned for positive results. With the right
foundation, your training program can fos-
ter a culture where everyone from the front
line to the C-suite puts safety fi rst.
Shawn Smith, Senior Director of Training
and Content at KPA, has 30 years of train-
ing production, programming, and learning
management expertise. He leads KPA’s dy-
namic training and content team, a group of
self-proclaimed nerds and individuals who
are passionate about keeping your employees
safe. He oversees the trifecta of compliant,
impactful, and innovative Environmental,
Health, and Safety resources at KPA. In his
spare time, he is a high school robotics coach
in Hershey, PA, pursuing global acclaim and
inspiring today’s youth to be themselves.
REFERENCES
1. tinyurl.com/yv543wbt
2. tinyurl.com/3tux2cf9
3. tinyurl.com/yeynnwyd
www.ohsonline.com