OSHA’s Guidelines for Training and Evaluation

[You can read the first four guidelines here.]

Step 5. Conduct the training. Think of the training session as an important meal. And like a memorable meal, its presentation must be as appealing as its taste. A successful session will have both "sizzle and steak"—style and content—with lots of participation, give-and-take, questions, examples, opinions, and enthusiasm from the trainer and trainees. To help achieve success, trainers may:

• Provide an overview of the material to help trainees focus and pace themselves.



• Explain why a subject is being covered.


• Relate new information or skills to the trainees’ own jobs and experience.


• Personalize and customize the information with names and specifics: "If Sam here locked and tagged out the compressor and Gina took off the tag …" "If Joe left a file cabinet open and Kathy tripped over it …"


• Reinforce training by continually summarizing objectives and key points.

The final point is critical, but all too often under-emphasized. OSHA requires that workers not only receive the training but also understand it. Make sure everyone "gets it" by rephrasing and summarizing at intervals during the session. 

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Step 6. Evaluate the program’s effectiveness. After the training is finished, how can you tell if it has done any good? Receiving the training is not enough; employees must understand it and integrate it into daily practice. To evaluate whether this is happening:

• Quiz employees on the material after each session.



• Solicit opinions from the trainees through questionnaires or informal discussions.


• Ask supervisors if they’ve noticed any changes in attitudes or practices.


• Chart your company’s accident reports and look for trends.

Step 7. Improve the program. If you find through testing, feedback, and observation that the training was not effective, it’s clearly time to investigate further. Important questions to ask both trainers and trainees:

• Was too much of the material already known?



• Was any material confusing or distracting?


• Was anything missing?


• What did trainees learn, and what did they fail to learn?

Whether or not you need to make changes, be sure to document that the training has occurred. Be sure to include dates, meeting times, meeting places, and other specifics.

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How We Can Help

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