Enhancing OHS Training For The Digital Generation
There are features you can use to increase employee engagement.
- By Jennifer Dawson
- Jul 11, 2022
The internet has presented a massive opportunity for workers to take control of their health and safety education. As the World Health Organization highlights in their own digitally-hosted package of worker health and safety learning materials, the internet provides in-depth training at the fingertips of every employee. That’s a huge opportunity for workers and businesses to reduce their rate of injury and fatality, something which has seen rises since the pandemic, whether due to lower rates of inspection or from new hazards in the hybrid workplace. While resources are available digitally, more needs to be done to engage with workers and ensure that they derive the maximum value from their education.
Increasing Engagement
One of the main challenges that digital learning poses concerns engagement. Studies of students across all tiers of education have shown just how difficult it can be to generate proper engagement; according to a study published by Frontiers in Education, 72 percent of students reported that they struggled to engage with e-learning. It is the purpose of learning platforms to tackle this, and OHS professionals have two main options—LMS and LXP systems. LMP is focused on delivering mandatory training, whereas LXP is slightly more warmly received by many workforces, as it promotes opportunities that workers will actively seek, rather than reacting. Taking certain principles from the LXP, and applying them to LMS—a system normally used for health and safety training—can be helpful.
LXPs Interactive Features
As learning website Training Industry highlights, LXP focuses on the "experience" of the platform—the individual takeaway that each learner will take from their involvement with courses. Having a depth of features helps to achieve this. Instead of just having text on a screen, using interactive sessions, including quizzes, 3D environments and opportunities for other forms of input will create a far more engaging learning experience. The only way to step it up from here is through instructor-led learning.
Bringing in Human Faces
The best way to generate engagement is through getting involved with the training. Instructors can provide a depth of detail and instruction that perhaps would be absent in purely self-led teaching—essential to the good absorption and consideration of knowledge. Also consider the impact of enforcing "video on." According to research conducted by communications platform Zoom, 72 percent of employees feel more engaged when using their video camera during meetings. Building that engagement, and feeling more in-tune with the training goes on, improves the likelihood of having a really profound learning experience and taking health and safety lessons to heart. This is the most crucial element of the overall learning experience, especially in an area as high stakes as occupational health and safety.
There has been a myriad of OHS risks identified via the pandemic, whether that be at-home injuries from inappropriate working spaces or from offices that have failed to fully adapt to the new normal. Making sure that training is a fun and interactive experience that really teaches the fundamentals of these lessons is key.