Microlearning Boosts Ergonomic Safety and Reduces Injuries

Traditional classroom training rarely changes how people work. Microlearning—short, focused, practice-based modules—helps employees master safer techniques, improve comfort, and reduce injuries by making ergonomic strategies tangible and repeatable.

• By Carrie Taylor
• Dec 09, 2025

Every organization provides safety training, often in the form of hour-long classroom sessions repeated annually. Yet, despite these efforts, workplace injuries from repetitive or awkward movements continue to occur. Why? Because learning safe work strategies isn’t just about watching a presentation—it’s about practicing techniques that actually reduce strain on the body.

In everyday life, we’ve grown used to learning in small, digestible bites. Social media, online tutorials, and quick “how-to” videos have set a new standard: people learn best when the instruction is short, focused, and actionable. This principle applies to workplace ergonomics, too.

Workers often perform tasks efficiently enough to meet production goals—but that doesn’t mean they’re working safely. An office employee entering data at a rapid pace might develop shoulder pain from reaching for the mouse, and care providers experience back strain while carefully repositioning residents.

Experienced employees have often learned “tricks of the trade” to reduce discomfort, but these strategies rarely get passed along. Unless workers are explicitly taught safe, ergonomically sound approaches—and given a chance to practice them—injury risk remains high.

Enter microlearning

Microlearning is “an instructional approach that delivers targeted, action-oriented, bite-sized content to achieve specific objectives within a short period, typically within a few seconds or minutes” (Monib et al., 2025). By breaking training into small, focused modules, workers can quickly learn safer techniques for everyday tasks and immediately see their impact on comfort and injury risk.

How to design microlearning to reduce injury risk

Let’s look at a practical example we’re all familiar with lifting a heavy case of bottles into the trunk of a car. Less experienced shoppers might lift the case from the cart and swing it into the trunk, trying to avoid crushing the groceries. An extended forward reach, combined with a twist, can create a very high injury risk.

Experienced shoppers, who may have hurt themselves before, or who recognize that a case of bottles is near their maximum capacity, plan ahead. They make space for the case in the trunk before the purchase, then move their feet while transferring the case from the cart to the trunk. They might rest the case briefly on the lip of the trunk while moving the feet to avoid twisting.

Simply telling someone to plan ahead won’t reduce injury risk. Workers need to practice the strategy, feel the difference, and understand why it matters.

Here’s a step-by-step approach:

Define the safe strategy: Identify the best way to perform a task. For the example above, this means planning space for new items in advance. For other jobs, it might mean adjusting workstation height, using a lift, or changing body position.

Provide practice opportunities: Let participants perform the task both the “usual” way and the safer way. Measuring the difference in comfort or effort reinforces the value of the safer method.

Explain the rationale: Share the mechanics behind the strategy. For example, avoiding a reach and twist while placing a case of bottles reduces the back load for an average female from 116% of maximum strength (too much to do even once) to 78% percentage of maximum strength (still a lot, but possible). Understanding these numbers strengthens compliance.

Demonstrate the correct technique: Show the proper execution, including precautions and situations where the strategy may not be feasible.

Reinforce through practical exercises: Activities like short simulations, role-playing, or using props allow participants to experience the benefits firsthand, creating a strong link between the lesson and real-world application.

Pilot and refine: Test the module with a small group to ensure clarity and effectiveness. Capture images or videos to support training and make instructions easy to follow.

Microlearning in action

At a Long-Term Care home, we piloted a 12-module microlearning series focused on ergonomic work strategies for resident handling and care, and using assistive devices. Each session included hands-on exercises—including using bathroom scales to measure effort reduction while using different strategies.

Results were encouraging:

• Workers’ ability to identify safe ways to perform difficult tasks improved by 75%
• End-of-day comfort scores improved by 46%

These improvements indicate that microlearning teaches better strategies and reduces the risk of injury by making safe work methods tangible and repeatable.

The takeaway

To reduce workplace injuries, it isn’t enough to tell workers what to do. Identify the safest strategies for each task, give employees the chance to practice, provide evidence of effectiveness, and connect lessons directly to real work. Microlearning makes this possible, one small, practical lesson at a time.

Cited:
Monib, W. K., Qazi, A., & Apong, R. A. (2025). Microlearning beyond boundaries: A systematic review and a novel framework for improving learning outcomes. Heliyon, 11(2), e41413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e41413