Thorough and effective employee training is recognized as a major key to achieving not only compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other regulations but also the protection of the company’s assets and the workers themselves. Therefore, the managers, supervisors, and safety professionals involved in the training effort should seek to find and use the best tools for the job.
Note that there is no single “best” tool. Indeed, all trainees are sure to benefit from a variety of approaches, so a savvy trainer will utilize several of the many options available. These include lectures, handouts, hands-on exercises, “show and tell,” quizzes, overhead projections, PowerPoint presentations, Web-based training, and films or videos.
Each has its advantages and disadvantages in terms of audience appeal. Studies have shown that information delivered orally alone is less likely to be absorbed and retained than material conveyed visually—or via eye and ear.
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Even more successful is learning by doing—for example, handling power tools correctly, trying on articles of personal protective equipment, or participating in an evacuation drill. Thus, a sequence of telling, demonstration, and supervised action tends to reinforce the lesson and promote retention, as does a follow-up of quizzes and/or handouts.
Using PowerPoint Effectively
PowerPoint training sessions have the visual and aural elements of training built in. And you can easily add a hands-on piece to the training where appropriate. Here’s how to enliven and strengthen your group training sessions using PowerPoint:
- List up front the most important points that will be covered, and suggest that trainees pay particularly close attention to them as they appear on the screen.
- Interrupt the presentation regularly to ask if there are any questions or material not clearly understood.
- Encourage questions at the end of the presentation.
- Distribute a brief, prepared quiz covering the points you most want to be remembered following the presentation. Then discuss the answers, trying to ensure that everyone participates.
- Ask for volunteers to demonstrate a procedure if the presentation covers a step-by-step procedure for carrying out a specific task. Have necessary materials and/or equipment on hand. Discuss why it is so important that the procedure be carried out properly as well as the hazards of incorrect performance.
Use your knowledge of your specific trainees and work situation to customize these points—and to devise other means of driving home the basic training participants need to learn.
The Power of PowerPoint
Training is essential for the safety of employees, so you can’t afford to lose them or confuse them. Because of their visual impact, PowerPoint training sessions can be especially effective. Training experts say that employees remember more of what they hear and see than they do of what they just hear. What employees don’t learn about safety in training sessions, they can’t apply on the job—and that’s dangerous. So learn to use PowerPoint software to conduct powerful safety training sessions that change the way your employees do their jobs—for the better.
Try Safety Training Presentations at no cost and no risk. For a limited time, also get a Free Special Report! Find out more.
Training for Consistent Compliance
If you’ve been looking for training on a wide range of safety concerns, look no further. Safety Training Presentations gets you off to a good start with 25 core PowerPoint safety presentations, each one responsive to either an OSHA training requirement or to common causes of workplace accidents. All are customizable, so you can add your specific hazards or safety policies.
Each lesson also includes completion certificates, sign-in sheets, evaluation forms, and training records. In short, it contains everything you need to motivate, reinforce, retain, and transfer new knowledge—and document that you did so.
In addition to fire prevention, Safety Training Presentation topics covered include:
- Bloodborne Pathogens
- Back Safety
- Emergency Action
- Ergonomics
- PPE
- Welding/Cutting/Brazing
- Portable Power Tool Safety
- Scaffolds
- Lockout/Tagout
- Forklift Operator Safety
- Confined Space Safety
- Fall Protection
- Respiratory Protection
- And more!
Of course, training needs change as OSHA introduces new requirements or as new work practices and technologies bring new hazards. To cover this, you receive a new CD every 90 days you’re in the program, each containing five additional or updated topics.
Just as important for those on a budget (and who isn’t these days?), the cost of these presentations works out to under $20 each.
We’ve arranged for Advisor subscribers to get a no-cost, no-obligation look at Safety Training Presentations for 30 days. Feel free to try a few lessons with your own trainees. Please let us know, and we’ll be glad to set it up.