044 Training with the human in mind

*Are you a death by power point kind of health and safety trainer?
*When was the last time you revamped your induction to include blended learning to actually engage the mere human?
*Do you employ tech and gamification to boost engagement and track physical and psychological safety outcomes?

In this episode I chat with Dr Susanne Bahn of Tap into Safety. Susanne has a completed a PHD in Business – focusing on work health and safety and expertise in hazard perception with over 50 published journal articles. With additional expertise in Human Resource Management and Education, Sue knows her way around safety in hazardous workplaces and how to design and deliver training WITH the human in mind.

In todays chat we discuss human-centred training design, using gamification and tech to raise safety literacy and specifically we discuss ways you and your organisation can elevate rates of help-seeking and specifically tailor your mental health and wellbeing interventions.

Let’s dive in…

After listening to todays episode, I hope you take up the challenge to revamp your next training session to accommodate the HUMAN. That you ask the question of those responsible, if you can adapt your safety induction to include more interactive experiences, gamification, videos, brain-breaks and humour so that the human in which its designed to influence actually leans in rather than checks out 7 mins into your delivery. Sure it might be a little more work up front, but the delivery will be less painful for you and the health and safety literacy of your audience will be boosted which will no doubt save you actioning as many hazard reports or investigations down the track.

My key takeaways from this chat with Sue:

1. Training needs to be created with the end user in mind: We need to draw on Human Factors principles so that our audience is engaged rather than feeling as though their life just got shortened 2 hours which is time they’ll never get back. A big part of this Sue encouraged was training must be designed to accommodate different learning styles, literacy levels and ultimately relevant to the actual work the group will be performing – so ditch the stock image of the office worker lifting a reem of paper and go to the effort of getting a snap of one of the actual workers handling an oil drum or some star pickets. Sue and her team at Tap into Safety have gone to the extent in their platform Hazard Insights of creating 360^o panoramic views of each companies various work group environments and superimposing common hazards to transport workers into their actual work setting so that learning and retention can be optimised.
2. Use tech to cut through Mental Health stigma: Sue identified a common problem with organisation supporting mental health at work, is the low reporting of mental health issues to management due to fear of job security or discrimination, 5% use of EAP services and poor survey completion meaning workplaces just don’t know whats going on. By introducing tech platforms that are rooted in good science, organisations can increase their knowledge of the mental health pulse of their workforce and introduce tailored training and wellbeing strategies to support mental health at work.
3. Tailor health, safety and wellbeing strategies to different work groups: rather than a one size fits all approach, go to the effort of collecting the data so you can segment your workforce and offer targeted solutions. Get de-identified data from platforms like Sues, from your workers comp or corporate health insurer, from engagement surveys, from absenteeism stats and use this to roll out initiatives that cut through.

What’s one thing you’ll do differently in your approach to deliver training with the human in mind?

The latest research shows that almost 100% of 11-21 year olds are gaming. Therefore why are we still delivering training the way we did 30 years ago? – Dr Susanne Bahn

Contact
www.tapintosafety.com
suebahn@tapintosafety.com.au
LinkedIn
Twitter @AllofMe_apps; @TapintoSafety
Tap into Safety on Facebook

Resources
Safety on Tap Podcast – Andrew Barrett
Bam Creative’s Marketing podcast
Founders Institute
Curtin Ignition Programme in WA

Thanks for listening to this weeks episode of the Fit for Work Podcast. Can I ask a favour? If you’ve gotten something out of the Podcast which has changed the way you do health, safety and/or leadership, can you share the podcast with a colleague so together we can be catalysts for change? For example imagine a working world where we no longer had to endure death by powerpoint, but instead could be inspired, challenged and entertained by workplace presentations. That’s just one example of what we could shift by sharing these lessons far and wide.

Until next time, continue being part of the solution in taking your workplace from good to GREAT. See ya!

Continue the conversation at www.fitforworkaustralia.com.au, say hi on LinkedIn or flick us a personal note at sally@fitforworkaustralia.com.au.

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