Intertek Alchemy, a global leader in training for manufacturing and food processing industries, today released the findings of its first annual State of Workplace Safety Training survey. The survey reveals the top challenges companies face when developing and implementing safety training programs and provides recommendations to help make training more effective.
Findings from the survey of nearly 1,100 respondents representing over 4,400 worksite facilities show that 59 percent of companies struggle to find time for training and nearly a third can’t verify if their programs are effective. Even with their best efforts to provide training, 66 percent still have employees who don’t follow workplace safety protocols on the floor.
This report examines the root causes behind these and other challenges, explains how technology can drive improvements, and provides actionable best practices for building a stronger workplace safety training program.
“Companies are under intense pressure to adequately train employees to work safely,” said Rick Gehrke, senior environmental safety and health consultant at Intertek Alchemy. “Limited time, seasonal employees, multiple languages and general apathy make it difficult to provide effective training programs. “Companies that overcome these challenges are two times more likely to have employees follow safety protocols on the floor, which they can achieve by utilizing tools discussed in this report, like audience-response technology and course-authoring software.”
Other key findings in the report include:
- Nearly half of companies still use paper and/or spreadsheets to document and manage training programs.
- Companies using a learning management system (LMS) provide 30 percent more training refreshers and reinforcement.
- Companies using interactive audience response training technology are 58 percent more likely to verify if a specific employee understood their training.
- Nearly a third of leaders surveyed believe productivity can rise by at least 50 percent if workers follow workplace safety programs consistently.
Source: Intertek Alchemy
