Training Can Be Fun

In the December 2004 issue of JDT, Risky Business reviewed OSHA’s Seven-Step Voluntary Training Guidelines. Using an organized approach and proven techniques can help you design an excellent training program. Step Five outlined the guidelines for conducting the training.

“The training should be well-organized and presented in a manner that has meaning and clarity to the employees. The presentation should motivate employees to pay attention and learn the material being presented. Ensure that the training program is structured and formatted to convince the employee of the importance and relevance of the material. Employee participation in the training ensures that they are learning the required knowledge.”

I can vouch for the fact that employee participation in the training is a key element. Here are some methods that we use that have been successful in involving the employees.

The first method is what we named the Numbers Game. During the training, you can award employees with points for answering questions correctly or sharing a situation that they’ve experienced that relates to the topic being discussed. The employee who acquires the most points during the training is awarded a prize. A larger laboratory can divide the employees into teams of five or six. The team at the end of the training that has accumulated the most points wins a prize.

Some other games that we use at SafeLink are Safety Bingo and Scramble. On the Bingo cards are words that will be used during the training. When the employee hears the word or sees the written word in any video used or written material, then they mark off the word. The first employee to get Bingo (five in a row, across, etc.) wins a prize. It doesn’t end there, however, we keep playing until someone covers the entire card. At the end, the cards are collected and we draw for a few more prizes.

Scramble is simply a list of words relating to safety with the letters scrambled. The employees unscramble the words. One letter from each word is used in a sentence that relates to safety. The words are used during the training and we make special emphasis on those words to the employees. Employees who unscramble the words correctly hand in the completed sheet and we draw for a few prizes.

The prizes can be very simple and inexpensive. Perhaps movie tickets to a local theater, a cash prize of $5, a give-away that the laboratory uses for its clients or at trade shows. With the team approach, you can award a team prize of pizza being brought in for that team one day. In most cases, the employees don’t ask what the prizes are, they just participate and have fun.

Training is one of the key elements to a successful safety program, so be innovative and keep employees’ interested by enhancing the training program with some of these ideas. If you have any games that you’ve found helpful in your training, I’d love to hear about them. Even safety training can be fun if you add a little spice!