How to Get the Most Out of Your Next Safety Training
You’re tasked with hosting safety training, and you know that you have a lot to consider. You have limited time and resources, and you’re not sure how many attendees to expect. Do you have a plan?
The best way to make sure that your training is effective is to plan a structured meeting. Here are some steps to creating a successful meeting from start to finish.
Step 1 – Create an effective hook
If you want your participants to get the most out of your safety training, you need a hook to introduce your topic. A hook can be anything that captures the attention of your audience.
Depending on your resources, your hook can be anything from an eye-catching video to a story. A good hook should lead into your topic, so try not to spend too much time or people could miss the point.
Step 2 – Plan an engaging activity
The most important part of planning activities is setting clear expectations. Before an activity begins, participants should understand the task, the time frame, and the finished product.
Having something for your participants to do also makes planning easier. By removing the focus from yourself, you won't feel pressured to fill time with a lecture. Activities also allow you to break up your training and keep everyone engaged.
Step 3 – Don’t forget to add closure
Adding closure to your training helps your participants understand what they’ve learned. There are many ways to add closure to a meeting, including a review, gathering feedback, or a short discussion.
Another way of structuring your meeting is to wrap up something that you began earlier. This could include answering a question that you asked people during your hook.
A little effort goes a long way
Like a good story, your training should have a beginning, middle, and end. Even with limited resources, you can create effective training. Use hooks to engage people, activities to keep them involved, and closure to help them understand what they’ve learned. With a little added effort, your participants can get a lot more out of your next safety training.
Are you looking for more safety tips and advice? We’ve written more about this topic in the past:
Since you’ve found your way to this article, we think you’ll be interested to learn more about lone worker safety. Protecting people working alone is our specialty, and we have some great resources: