Supercharge your safety training

Do you notice workers not paying attention when you’re giving a safety presentation?

If your presentation and materials are stale, old-fashioned and/or uninspiring, your message isn’t likely to stick.

“A lot of times, they’re hearing the same thing over and over again,” said Ricky Rollins, a longtime steel industry supervisor who is now a motivational speaker in the safety field. “If you’re looking at pie charts and graphs, honestly, you walk out of that room and got nothing.”

Safety professionals who want to develop more effective presentations – and a more engaged workforce – often face many challenges, though. And “there’s a bazillion of them,” said Regina McMichael, president of The Learning Factory Inc., who presents nationally on a variety of safety topics.

“Certainly the most obvious answer is time and resources,” the author of the book “The Safety Training Ninja” added. “Many safety professionals, regardless of how dedicated they are to the topic or the concept of great safety training, are pulled in so many directions.”

That often means little time or budget to invest in unique training opportunities. “So, they’re kind of forced to make do with what they have,” McMichael said.

For safety pros who want to enhance their training presentations, here are five tips experts say will help.

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