Strategies to Improve Safety Training & Engagement

Lately, I've been thinking about societal attitudes toward change.

There are some tried and true sayings like "The only constant in life is change," "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," and "We've always done it that way."

These sayings reinforce the idea that the way things are (or were) is the best they'll ever be. What's more, the implication is that change is bad, undesirable or something to be feared.

If we allow ourselves to buy-in to the mindset that change is bad in the workplace, then that's opening the door to growing complacency, declining morale, erosion in psychological safety, increase in turnover and more potential for accidents. Seen this way, an aversion to change has serious consequences.

That's why, when it comes to training and engagement, we must shake ourselves out of our ruts. We need to try something new, be it virtual simulations, microlearning or new technology. We need to be bold and fearless when it comes to our approaches -- and attitudes -- toward teaching employees how to be safer on the job.

The truth is, we often don't know what will resonate with workers -- until it does. It may seem daunting to try many different approaches and develop a plethora of materials, but I challenge you to think of it as a broad attempt to find individual success. All it takes is one close call, good experience or a-ha moment to build momentum.

You may feel like you're toiling now, but in reality, you're planting the seeds that will take root and grow. You may not reap your harvest for weeks or months to come, but I encourage you to be patient and keep finding new ways to tend your garden of workplace safety.

Sometimes, change catches us off guard. Sometimes, it can be unpleasant. But sometimes, it's just what we (didn't know we) needed.

If we are inflexible or set in our ways, we deny ourselves the possibility to be surprised and delighted by the unexpected.

I hope you find something that surprises and delights you in the pages that follow.