Keeping Safety Training Interesting: How Trainerman does it.

When Jonathan Klane started out in safety and health training, he did so in a suit and tie. But as the years progressed, his style changed.

These days the business clothes are often nowhere to be seen. Instead, he’s turned his mild-mannered everyday self into a training superhero, complete with appropriate costume. He calls this alter ego “Trainerman.”

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Not many of us would go as far to grab attention as Klane has. But he did so for a valid principle: If you can’t make training interesting, it won’t be heard, and the lessons certainly won’t stick.

Klane, founder of Klane’s Education Information Training Hub of Fairfield, Maine, explained some of his training principles in a recent issue of our sister publication, OSHA Compliance Advisor. Here’s a digest of what he (and others) have to say about how to make safety training more effective.

Center Training Around the Learner. Klane has found that no matter how important safety information is, generally, you can’t create learner interest unless it’s something the learner finds personally relevant. “We wouldn’t try to teach people about chemicals and MSDSs that they’re not working with and don’t have to understand,” he says. “They want to know specifically what it means to them.”

How does that translate to preparation for learning? Klane suggests involving potential trainees in planning for the session. The formal way of doing this is to conduct a needs assessment of workers’ and organizational priorities. But even an informal chat with learners before training starts can be effective, Klane says.

Encourage Participation. “Don’t be the only person in the room doing the training,” Klane advises. To accomplish this, he structures his lessons to let his students in on finding solutions to workplace problems, rather than just telling them what to do. In one exercise, he demonstrates workplace rights and wrongs. Learners are asked to yell out “Don’t!” as they see mistakes being made. Those that do so correctly get a prize.

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Listen, and Don’t Get Defensive. Top trainers know that questions from the audience are important, and they give questioners the respect they deserve. “Restate the question to be sure of your understanding,” says Klane. And no matter how challenging the audience, “don’t get defensive, no matter what.”

Klane and other trainers also stress the niceties of handling any meeting with busy working people: Start on time, have all the materials and equipment needed to train on hand, test any AV equipment beforehand (and be sure you know how to work it!), and release workers when you say you will so they can get back to their impatient bosses.

Plus, of course, know your stuff!

We’ll offer a more detailed list of Trainerman’s training tips in the next Advisor. Meanwhile, if you can’t wait to put this superhero to work on your safety training challenges, he can be reached at Jonathan@TrainerMan.com.