Learn the "FUNdamentals" of Safety Training

When it comes to openers and closers, safety consultant Linda Tapp urges trainers to keep in mind the law of primary and “recency.” Trainees are going to remember what you do first and last. So you want to make sure to choose the right activities—activities at the beginning of the session that will get trainees engaged and ready to learn and activities at the end that will make the session meaningful and memorable.

Tapp is an award-winning consultant, Certified Safety Professional and, author of Safety FUNdamentals—77 Games and Activities to Make Training Great.

Warm-Ups

Effective openings, or warm-ups, as Tapp calls them, help break through trainees’ preoccupation with what’s going on back on the job and focus their attention on the training right from the beginning. Among Tapp’s recommendations for warm-ups:

• Millionaire for a Minute. When trainees enter the room, they see instructions that ask them to think about the following question and be prepared to share their answers: If you had a million dollars to spend on safety at your plant, what is the first thing you would spend it on?
• Grab Bag. As trainees enter the room, they’re asked to choose an object from a bag without looking and then come up with at least two ways the item could be used in relation to the training topic.
• Make It Musical. Music has been found to provide an emotional connection that helps retention, says Tapp. Consider welcoming trainees to a training session with music alone or with music as part of a slide show featuring relevant photos, cartoons, or messages.

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Wrap-Ups

It’s also important to close training sessions in a meaningful and memorable way. This can be tough because participants know the session will soon end, and they may have trouble remaining focused as a result.

Tapp says the wrap-up (or closer) provides a great opportunity to reinforce the concepts presented. She recommends strategic closers that not only summarize but also motivate trainees to practice what they’ve learned.

“One of the worst presentation mistakes you can make is to say, ‘Well, that’s it,'” Tapp says. “Let’s review” isn’t much better.

Among Tapp’s suggestions for wrap-ups is an activity she calls Brain Dump. Here’s how it works:

• Divide the group into teams of 2 to 4 trainees.
• Give each team a sheet of paper on which one team member lists numbers from 1 to 20.
• Each team then gets 3 minutes to write down as many key items or phrases as possible that relate to the information presented during the session. Coming up with more than 20 is just fine.
• When time is up, the team with the most words or phrases wins.
• Teams then share their lists with the group.

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Another effective closing activity is to divide the group into teams of 4 or 5. Team members work together to come up with a set of 10 test questions based on training content. Tests are traded among the teams, and team members work collaboratively to answer the questions. Completed tests are collected and shared with everyone.

Says Tapp, “Safety training is one of the only opportunities we often have to get the undivided attention of the employees we work with.” A strong opener and memorable closer can have a big impact on what trainees take away from safety training sessions.

You can learn more about Tapp and her training techniques at her website SafetyFUNdamentals.

Tomorrow, we’ll tell you about the safety director of a small business who, as a safety department of one, has learned to conduct cost-effective, quality safety training.

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