The Safety Training Net - April '21

OSHA’s Top Ten for 2020, Storytelling Formula, Top Ten Training Podcasts, Chatbots in Training, Introduction to Clubhouse

Apr 8, 2021

OSHA’s Top Ten for 2020

In case you missed it, OSHA’s Top Ten for 2020 was finally announced. All of the previous ten most frequently cited standards are still on the list but the order changed slightly. The infographic above shows OSHA’s Top Ten for 2020.

If you are a VIP Subscriber, you were able to download the “Safety Training with Infographics” eBook last month which included several examples for using infographics in your safety training activities. The book included an example for using a “Top Ten” type of infographic as a training activity.

If you are not a VIP subscriber and did not yet see this great collection of activities, you can try one out by downloading the OSHA Top Ten Infographic modified for training here. To use the modified infographic (shown below), make a copy of the training version for each team of trainees. Tell the trainees to imagine that all ten of these citations were issued to their employer after an accident occurred. The training teams are to create a story about the accident being sure to include the “Who” (who was involved in the accident), the “What” (what happened that resulted in these ten citations), and the “Why” (why the accident occurred). Although this activity is based on an imaginary incident, be sure to explain to trainees that the “Who” should only include generic job titles and not actual names of employees. When all teams have had a chance to create their story, have them share it with the rest of the group.

Why is this a good activity? When trainees work together to create the story based on limited facts, they are thinking about how those specific conditions could occur (and the negative consequences) in their day-to-day job. This not only helps them to make sense and learn about the safety requirements associated with these OSHA standards but will also help them to remember the information longer.

What do you think? Do you like this activity and/or have you tried it? Please let me know by commenting below.

Ask the Expert - James Kirkpatrick

I am thrilled to be able to highlight James Kirkpatrick (Don Kirkpatrick’s son) as the second training professional featured in Ask the Expert. Anyone who has studied anything about training has likely learned about Kirkpatrick's 4 levels of training evaluation (summarized below).

Jim Kirkpatrick and Wendy Kirkpatrick have expanded on the original 4 levels and in 2010, created the New World Kirkpatrick Model.

Jim graciously shared his expertise in the form of 4 answers to 4 questions related to training that I offered to him as a way of sharing his expertise with those of us in the safety world. I hope you find his advice as valuable as I have. (To download a full-size of this infographic click here).

Ten Best: Training Podcasts

It seems like everybody has a podcast these days. If you search for one that you might like, you will have to pick from the almost 2 million different podcasts that are available! You may be familiar with many of the great podcasts related to occupational safety but what about training? There are some excellent ones from across the globe that I’d like to share with you. You can learn more about training and development while you are driving to work, exercising, or working around the house. Check them out and please let me know if you have a favorite that I missed.

Storytelling Formula

Think of a time you listened to a trainer, presenter, or public speaker and you really paid attention and were moved by their words. Chances are they had found a way to weave a story into their presentation.

There are many formulas and guides to creating and delivering a good story. One I particularly like is called the Story Spine structure. It goes like this:

Once upon a time there was [blank]. Every day, [blank]. One day [blank]. Because of that, [blank]. Until finally [blank].

Let’s try this for safety training and let’s practice with a story related to electrical safety.

Once upon a time, there was an electrician. Every day, he adjusted a machine setting while the machine was running. One day he got his hand caught and broke three fingers. Because of that, he was no longer able to work as an electrician or play guitar in his free time, until finally he was fully healed and then never took a chance of working on a moving part again.

With all stories, it’s important to understand why you want to tell the story and what you hope to teach. The example above is very simple but following the Story Spine structure provides a good way to start crafting your safety training story.

Note: For some more great advice on storytelling check out this list of storytelling tips from Pixar.

Chatbots

Chatbots (short for chat robot) are automated instant messengers that are capable of carrying on an informal conversation (chat) with a person. They are computer programs that analyze user input and generate answers accordingly. You may be familiar with chatbots when they are used on a website as a way to provide help and answer questions but just like the purpose they serve on these sites, chatbots can provide just-in-time information to trainees looking for quick answers too. Chatbots are usually much quicker (and cheaper) than having a dedicated person available to respond to a variety of questions. There are many chatbot platforms available and most are relatively simple to set up (if you have an internal IT department that would make things even easier).

Chatbots are likely not the answer to providing initial or stand-alone training for safety topics but can be great as a follow-up and reinforcement tool. Where chatbots can shine is in helping to keep trainees engaged long after a training program is complete. Used with safety training, chatbots could send out short surveys, micro-lessons, quizzes or reminders via popular messaging platforms after a class has been completed. Having the training class material repeated in this way will help increase retention.

In addition to helping keep training content fresh in the minds of trainees, chatbots can also answer frequently asked questions trainees may have. A chatbot can likely be added to whatever platform your trainees are using now. Imagine your trainees need to access a central online repository to access a particular safety procedure. If you know that there are certain questions asked about that procedure all the time, these “FAQs” can be built into the chatbot and can appear when trainees visit this repository and can save everyone valuable time.

If you are interested in going deeper and investigating if the use of chatbots are right for you, I suggest you start playing around with some of the chatbot providers. (I’ve listed a few below). As my grade school swimming teacher used to say as he pushed me and my classmates off the edge into the deep end, there really is no better way to learn than to just jump in and do it.

Here are a few providers to check out.

Chatfuel, Botsify, Rebot.me, Quriobot, and Manychat

Introduction to Clubhouse

As described by online newspaper The Cut, “Clubhouse is an iPhone-only voice-chatting app where individuals can host and join different conversations. Upon opening the app, you are met with a list of “rooms” that you can join, or you can create your own room. Each room has a different topic, often hosted by an expert or pioneer in the field”.

Although Clubhouse is less than a year old, in February of 2020, there were about 10 million users. Since Clubhouse is an invitation-only platform and available only on iPhones, I imagine it would be much, much bigger if those restrictions were removed.

My first experience with Clubhouse was a little overwhelming. When you join the platform, there are multiple “rooms” you can join on topics that range from real estate investing to learning to speak a new language. These rooms may have 10 people or thousands. Occasionally, celebrities drop into rooms which keeps so many people glued to the app.

For me, Clubhouse is like a talk radio show about non-fiction topics I want to learn more about. I only listen in, which is what the majority of Clubhouse members do, but many people strive to actually host these rooms. If I’m not listening to a podcast or audiobook, I now have Clubhouse on in the background. I have listened to a great “room” run by a voice coach, another by a futurist, and a few on writing. My favorite has been a room run by Amy Cuddy, a professor at Harvard Business School and author of Presence, on Tuesday nights. Amy is attempting to cover the content of her Harvard Business School class on communication, over a period of 12 nights, all on Clubhouse.

From a professional development perspective, there are many benefits for trainers and I expect more “rooms” to be added related to training and development. One of my favorite training and development podcasts, "The Good Practice” by Emerald Works, now has a Clubhouse room every Thursday which I am excited to check out.

Once you are a Clubhouse member, you get a few invites to share with others. (These invites are so valuable they are sometimes even sold on sites like Reddit!) If you want to check out Clubhouse and don’t have an invite, let me know and I’ll see how I can help :)

Thank you Subscribers!

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If you are a paid subscriber, you will be receiving a second April Newsletter that goes out to VIP Subscribers only. The VIP newsletter will include a free download of the new “Training Activities for OSHA’s Top Ten eBook,” an ROI calculator, App of the Month, and virtual facilitation tips.

Enjoy the rest of the month and please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions, suggestions, or need some ideas. Happy Training! - Linda

The Safety Training Net