Can You Do Too Much Safety Training?

This is a follow-up to a previous blog that can be accessed here: http://www.safetycultureexcellence.com/2013/09/18/more-is-not-better-only-better-is-better/

There seems to be naïve assumption that if training does solve a problem the answer is more training.  It is NOT!  The answer is better training.  Overtraining is a serious problem in the safety programs of several industries.  Workers are literally bombarded with information that is not sticky.  They leave training sessions confused instead of enlightened.  They feel like they are trying to drink from a fire hose.

One problem is that training is designed to limit legal exposure rather than effectively improve safety.  New employee orientation on project jobsites is often a massive information dump, rather than a focused effort to eliminate the most common safety challenges.  In fact, most safety training takes a blanket vs. a focused approach.  The training tries to cover every possible risk rather than focusing on the risks that have historically caused the most injuries.  

Blanket-type training is notoriously non-memorable.  Effective training creates awareness that is sticky, (easy to remember) so that workers can easily carry the knowledge in their memory until it becomes habitual.  Test or ask your trainees if they can recite from training what they should do to improve safety.  Ask them again a week or a month after training.  If they can’t remember, the problem lies in the quality, not the quantity of training.

-Terry L. Mathis

Terry L. Mathis is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. He is known for his dynamic presentations in the fields of behavioral and cultural safety, leadership, and operational performance, and is a regular speaker at ASSE, NSC, and numerous company and industry conferences. EHS Today listed Terry as a Safety Guru in ‘The 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS in 2010, 2011 and 2012-2013. He has been a frequent contributor to industry magazines for over 15 years and is the coauthor of STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence, 2013, WILEY.