Let’s face it, some job sites are much more hazardous than others. Workers in these high-risk environments are always in harm’s way, and they’re more likely to suffer work-related injuries than employees in low-risk environments—especially if these workers are contractors or temporary employees. Too many work-related injuries can make worker’s compensation costs skyrocket to astronomical levels and cut into an organization’s profitability. So, it comes as no surprise that safety management teams are always looking for ways to reduce work-related injuries—especially in teams that deal with employees in high-risk work environments daily and this can be achieved by developing an impactful safety training content.
But reducing work-related injuries at high-risk job sites is easier said than done. That’s because every site is unique, so no two job sites have the same set of hazards—some of which can be hard to identify. Plus, job sites change over time, creating new hazards and modifying old ones. Because of this, using off the shelf safety orientation content isn’t an option for employees in high-risk environments. To increase safety at these job sites, you first need to do a thorough risk assessment of the site to determine what hazards exist. Then develop customized orientation content tailored specifically to these environments.
Benefits of A Comprehensive Risk Assessment
A risk assessment looks closely at a job site to identify work-related hazards, which can be machinery, situations, or processes. After identifying the hazards, a safety team then analyzes and evaluates the risk associated with the hazards. The team then decides the best ways to eliminate them or control their risks. For example, creating engaging safety orientation content or giving regular toolbox talks are proven ways to try to eliminate or control the risks associated with specific hazards.
Good times to do a risk assessment are before you introduce new processes and activities, or when there are changes to an existing process or activity. You can also do a risk assessment when new information about products, machinery, or equipment becomes available or when you identify previously unknown hazards. The goal in looking at these hazards is to answer four key questions, according to the
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety:
- What can happen and under what circumstances?
- What are the possible consequences?
- How likely are the possible consequences to occur?
- Is the risk controlled effectively or is further action required?
Once you’ve answered these questions, a safety team needs to prioritize them. To do that, you have to consider both employee exposure and the hazard’s potential for illness or injury, then rank the hazard based on the risks they pose to workers. Some safety management teams create a simple matrix to prioritize a set of hazards. Once you’ve determined priorities, you can create an action plan designed to eliminate the hazards listed or control their risks, which is where customized safety orientation content excels.
Off the Shelf ‘OTS’ Training Content Has Its Uses, But What are the Drawbacks?
OTS training content has its uses. It’s great when you need something quick and easy, and for teaching generic workplace skills, like leadership, time management, and collaboration. It is also great for teaching programs and apps, like PowerPoint or Excel. But using it to boost safety in high-risk environments simply doesn’t work. OTS content is either too generic for a high-risk environment or too irrelevant to a hazardous situation. Whatever the case, OTS content can dampen workers’ interest and engagement. If workers aren’t interested or engaged, it’s unlikely that they will
retain the information provided in an orientation session or change their behavior.
More importantly, OTS training content isn’t customizable. Work sites evolve constantly, so safety training must be adaptable to keep up with the changes at a site that occur over time. OTS content can’t be customized to adapt to a site’s evolution. For example, a change at a high-risk work site may require an employee to complete a safety procedure differently. OTS content may touch on the procedure’s basics but not its particulars , leaving you with gaps to fill in. Failing to do so endangers the employee and puts the company at risk. Customized safety content can help you fill in these gaps.
Customized safety orientation content is ideal if you use a lot of contractors. They are temporary employees, so they often spend less time at a job than direct employees. They also have different skill levels and may be carrying out different work. In addition, they often require less in-depth content being delivered than direct employees, especially when it comes to safety. Yet, good contractor management demands these workers to be on-boarded in a way that keeps them safe and keeps their productivity levels high. Generic OTS content can’t always help you do either of these things.
Benefits of Customized Safety Content
One key benefit of customized safety content delivered using
online content or e-learning methods is that it enables a safety team to use a company’s terminology, documents, screens, and tools. You can even tailor the content to show employees how to do a job or an aspect of a job exactly how you want them to do it, maximizing safety. If a change occurs in a job or procedure, you can easily customize your content to reflect the change—something you can’t do with OTS content.
Additional benefits of customized safety orientation content include:
- Improved results — Changing learner behavior is what matters most in safety training. Customized content increases your chances of changing behavior by tying corporate objectives to real-world situations, encouraging workers to apply the new learning on the job.
- Aligned Business Goals — Customized training content allows you to align your business goals with learning objectives, creating a more meaningful experience for employees. That, in turn, generates real business results.
- Major initiatives — From time to time, you may embark on major safety initiatives unique to your company and its business goals. These initiatives can be substantial and time-sensitive. Customized training can help you target the particulars of the initiative while reinforcing a company’s goals.
- Company-specific processes — Most workplaces have processes or procedures unique to the company itself—especially in highly technical work involving standard operating procedures. Customized safety training content can help you cover the in’s and out’s of these processes or procedures.
- Promoting your brand — Customized safety content also provides the ability to stamp your brand on it, reinforcing its tenets, voice, and messages. This is in contrast of that with the stale, generic voice of OTS content, which can quickly tune out employees.
Too many work-related injuries can boost a company’s medical and compensations costs into the stratosphere and shrink its profitability. Reducing injuries at job sites should be a priority for all safety management teams in high-risk environments. That’s easier said than done. These sites change over time, so safety content must be adaptable to the changes that occur in high-risk environments. Doing a thorough risk assessment of a site first, then creating customized safety orientation content is a proven way of decreasing work-related injuries at high-risk environments and boosting your company’s profitability.
