“Safety training has never taken a backseat for us,” says Jack Diener, Safety Coordinator at Stock Manufacturing & Design, when talking about the ongoing intention and strategies his organization has with worker training.

An iReportSource customer, Jack shared this approach with us when we sat down with him to talk more about his best-in-class safety program.

As a proactive, continuous learner, Jack is a safety leader that is deeply committed to safety. He’s also just as committed to empowering his people to be as safe and effective in their roles as possible.

Jack’s been with Stock Manufacturing & Design for more than 3 years, and during that time he’s served as a Production Manager and most recently he’s taken on the role of Safety Coordinator. In that position, he looks to continue to put safety first to keep employees safe and healthy.

Located in the heart of the Midwest, Stock Manufacturing & Design offers technologically advanced manufacturing services, with specializations across contract manufacturing, machining, paint, value added engineering, product management, supply chain management, and product assembly.

Just as Jack prioritizes safety, so does Stock Manufacturing & Design, which is part of why we interviewed him about how they take steps to continually keep their training as fresh as possible.

Our conversation with Jack covered everything from employee morale to combating safety complacency—and today we’re breaking down how he’s delivering fresh and original safety training to his workers.

After all, Jack says the safety training and ongoing employee development are key components of the company’s overall safety efforts. “I don’t know how you could ever expect somebody to perform well, if you don’t teach them how to do it well,” he explains.

Keep reading to see the 6 insights he’s sharing to make sure your safety training is both modern and effective:

1. Always keep your safety training relevant

Jack explained that first and foremost, he’s always looking for ways to keep the safety training relevant to each and every worker.

Safety training is one of the top ways they are able to combat complacency, so that requires training content that’s timely, original, and specific to what workers are dealing with.

Admittedly, sometimes that requires challenging the way things have been done with your safety training so it isn’t considered boring or stale by workers. “You can easily get caught up in the production of safety training, so do your best to keep challenging yourself to keep the content and delivery as fresh and relevant as you can,” he explains.

iReportSource is a complete Safety Management Software that can help you save time, reduce risk, and improve employee safety.

SCHEDULE A DEMO AND SEE HOW IT WORKS

2. Share stories to keep lessons memorable

Does your training tend to tell people what they “should” be doing, or does it tell them how they “ought” to behave? Or does it seem to overly focus on meeting compliance alone?

The reality is most people understand and learn much more from stories or anecdotes, so when you can, incorporate storytelling into your safety training.

Stories are also a great way to emotionally connect with your staff. They also establish context in a rich way, and keep things fresh and new for those listening.

In general, telling stories can make your lessons much more memorable, they keep people’s attention, and they can effectively communicate multiple lessons and meanings.

3. Make your safety training on-demand

Jack says one of the best things about their revamped safety training is the ability for much of it to be viewed on-demand—viewable and accessible at any hour of the day.

Not only does that mean new, important information can be seen when it needs to be, but it also helps workers optimize their own time.

“Maybe it’s training that emphasizes the hazards on a certain job site they are headed to, or maybe it is lifting training, as two examples. But now they’re able to see that on-demand, when they have extra time. Or, they are able to watch it if they’ve set aside time for that particular training. Either way, we have a more modern format for them to access that on tablets thanks to iReportSource,” explains Jack. “Plus, another benefit is it can remind them if the training is not done yet,” he says.

“Yes, there are times you want to do classroom-style training, but other times, this way of delivering content and training is better for everyone.”

4. Incorporate “microlearning” opportunities

Content doesn’t always have to be delivered in a long format. Said another way, training doesn’t have to always happen in one long session or block of time, explains Jack.

When content is delivered in small bites or shorter lessons, sometimes called micro-learning, it can allow workers to learn in short bursts, and then they can move on to another task.

5. Use video and graphics to keep content engaging

Certain training will happen in a classroom or certain training will happen on-site. There’s no denying that, but if you haven’t already, consider using new forms of media when it comes to training.

That’s what workers are craving, so be open to new forms of media to keep your training sessions as engaging and interesting as possible.

That can include video, reports, visuals, interactive data and/or tools, audio, and more, all of which can keep the attention of workers and can provide multiple ways for them to learn.

6. Bring in talent from outside the company

Another tip Jack has about keeping content fresh comes from the source of your safety training. You can use existing talent within your walls, but also don’t forget to bring in experts or new faces, too, from outside the company. That can be a great way to increase excitement about the content.

“When you bring in somebody from the outside, it’s an effective way to bring a fresh look on topics,” explains Jack.

Modernize Your Safety Training with iReportSource

iReportSource allows you to modernize the way you train workers. It keeps you on track (and reminded) of EVERY employee’s training requirements and deadlines. It also shows the time spent on each training, on each document, and you can even run reports to proactively recognize the training sessions that are about to expire.

Training delivered through iReportSource also allows for approval flow, and you can create repeating trainings, too. Digitize your safety program,  and roll it out to your entire organization, with one click—learn more about iReportSource safety management today.