Today’s expert advises training materials with varied formats that go beyond simple verbal lectures. Here’s one that trains in 25 different subjects at a single low cost. .
Yesterday’s Advisor began a discussion of consultant Ben Wurtmann’s concept of safety training that goes beyond simple accident avoidance to the point that it also improves work performance. Wurtmann, of the Milford, CT training and consulting firm, New Standard Institute, Inc., expressed his views in an article on the website plantengineering.com.
One example we offered of using safety in this way was ergonomic improvements.
Yes, they are designed to reduce the strain on workers’ bodies, but at the same time, they also make the task easier to do. More work can be done in the same time, if the employee needn’t reach as far or wrestle to work controls or operate equipment. And reduced worker fatigue also can bring increased quality.
To achieve these results, Wurtmann, and others too, highlight the essential role of using well-designed training materials.
Too many trainers haul employees into a classroom, bore them for 30 to 60 minutes with a straightforward lecture, perhaps interspersed with a few scare stories, and then wonder why the information they labored to impart disappears without a trace.
Instead, experts like Wurtmann suggest, vary the training format. Don’t just lecture and don’t just use words. Instead, make training more interactive and more visual. “Not everything will reach every worker, but a net cast widely will ultimately be more effective than expecting all your workers to learn the same way,” he says.
All the safety training you need in one program: 25 subjects in all. One low price. It’s BLR’s Safety Training Presentations. Try it at no cost.
Who Has the Time to Do It?
All this presupposes, of course, that you’re working with top-notch training materials.
For trainers forced to make their own, this is a roadblock. Most don’t have the time to create truly professional presentations. If you fall into this category (And who doesn’t!), we’d suggest a look at BLR’s Safety Training Presentations program. It’s a remarkable tool that provides ready-to-use safety materials for a wide range of common topics, at a very attractive price per session. It does so much that one user referred to it as “the Swiss Army Knife of Safety Training Materials.”
The word ‘Presentations’ in the program name is plural for 25 reasons. There are 25 separate PowerPoint R prewritten safety meetings, every one responsive to either an OSHA training requirement or the topic being a key cause of accidents. All are customizable so you can add your specific hazards or safety policies. Topics covered include:
- Back Safety
- Bloodborne Pathogens
- Electrical Safety
- Emergency Action
- Ergonomics
- Fire Prevention
- PPE
- Welding/Cutting/Brazing
- Portable Power Tool Safety
- Scaffolds
- Hazard Communication
- Lockout/Tagout
- Forklift Operator Safety
- Confined Space Safety
- Fall Protection
- Respiratory Protection
Try Safety Training Presentations at no cost and no risk.
What’s more,as Wurtmann and others suggest, Safety Training Presentations uses varied formats, not just slide presentations. Each lesson also includes interactive exercises, quizzes, completion certificates, sign-in sheets, evaluation forms, and training records. In short, everything you need to motivate, reinforce, retain and transfer new knowledge, and document that you did to. You can see samples of some of the materials by clicking on the links below.
Of course, training needs change as OSHA introduces new requirements or as new work practices and technologies bring new hazards. To cover this, you receive a new CD every 90 days you’re in the program, each containing 5 additional topics.
Just as important, for those on a budget (And who isn’t these days?), the cost of these presentations averages under $20 each.
We’ve arranged for Advisor subscribers to get a no-cost, no-obligation look at Safety Training Presentations for 30 days. Feel free to try a few lessons with your own trainees. Click here and we’ll be glad to arrange it.
Safety Training Presentations Sample Materials
Download core topic list
Download example sample
Download handout sample
Download multiple slide sample