Experience is the greatest teacher of all and there is nothing like learning from our mistakes. But, in many critical industries, making a mistake can lead to grave injuries — or possibly even death. Whatever your industry, safety should be at the heart of everything you do. By committing to innovation and new, more effective ways to approach online training, your people will be more prepared to make safer, smarter and better decisions on the job.
Making Compliance Training Engaging
Learning from the mistakes of someone else — without actually having to make that mistake yourself — is an invaluable tool when it comes to adult learning. In fact, eLearning courses developed from real-life scenarios that highlight to learners what went wrong can help prevent similar injuries from occurring in the future.
In this article, we’ll review some top tips on integrating case studies into your health and safety training programs, and how this can help save lives in the workplace.
3 tips for designing (or selecting) case study courses.
Select case studies with care.
Not all examples of workplace incidents are relevant for all trainees. That’s why you should start by identifying any employee skills gaps and training needs. You’ll also want to ensure you’re selecting or designing case studies that grab the attention of those who engage with the narrative.
Here are just a few questions to consider while developing safety training for employees:
- Is there a particularly compelling voice that can share this story?
- Is there a clear lesson that can be learned from this experience?
- How can this particular case study help develop problem-solving skills in learners?
- Is there an interactive element that can be included in a training based on this case study?
Ensure to choose topics that are relevant to employees and the work environment, and that learners can connect with personally. The importance is to ensure that the training content is memorable.
Structure training for engagement.
As you are designing or selecting case studies for training courses, you’ll need to consider the best way to communicate a real-life narrative. This is not the same as storytelling or explaining what not to do. Instead, you will need to structure the training so that it immerses learners into the experience. Combine different features to create a blended learning experience, like interviews and/or a 3D recreation of the incident with explanations by an expert on how the incident could’ve been prevented. This can drive home the point of occupational safety and hazard association (OSHA) training.
Include interactive elements.
Interactive multimedia elements are also imperative to creating an immersive learning experience. You can also structure the content so learners can problem-solve their way through the experience while you narrate it. For example, add scenarios like “branching” or choose-your-own-adventure activities so they can see how the situation plays out based on their selection. Don’t overdo it with the entertaining elements. The point of adding immersive features is to make an authentic impact on your learners.
3 key benefits of using case studies in training.
Better buy-in.
When it comes to safety training, buy-in from stakeholders is a must and completing online courses should be more than checking boxes for compliance requirements. The best way to do that is explain the value of the training. Most adults have a higher sense of self-direction and motivation, which is why many adult learners learn because they need it and/or recognize the benefit. We know that humans learn better when they connect their training to a narrative. Case studies have the power to make what may otherwise feel like a series of do’s and don’ts come to life with a compelling story based on real-life events.
Learners can better understand the importance of safety training when its personable and relevant to their role. Transforming mandatory compliance health and safety training from abstract concepts into lessons grounded in the real-world can not only maximize the impact of training, but also help safeguard lives.
