In highly hazardous jobs, interactive types of safety training may help workers become more aware of on-the-job threats and avoid making fatal mistakes, according to a comprehensive new study.

Last April, an explosion at Upper Branch Mine in West Virginia killed 29 coal miners. In the years leading up to the tragedy, the mine was cited for a high number of Mine Safety and Health Administration violations. Many of the problems were related or relevant to training. Of the violations specific to training regulations, half were deemed significant and substantial, meaning there was a reasonable likelihood of these violations resulting in serious injury or illness.

An organization’s first asset is its people, and employers must pay close attention to their approach to workplace safety and health. Employers should invest in safety resources, including effective training designed to fit the needs of the target audience, and engage each employee in the process.

Workplace safety training can take on a number of different forms, from written instruction in a conference room to hands-on equipment training on a shop floor. Each offers its benefits and drawbacks, making multi-format training not only appropriate but also effective.

In fact, more labor accidents could be prevented if workers received training better tailored to the danger level of the job, according to psychologists who recently analyzed close to 40 years of research.

In highly hazardous jobs, hands-on safety training for workers is most effective for improving work behavior, according to findings in the January issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association.

Based on analyses of 113 safety training studies (conducted since the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act in 1971) with a total sample size of 24,694 workers from 16 countries, the researchers found that interactive types of safety training may help employees become more aware of the threats they face on the job and avoid making fatal mistakes.

At jobs where the likelihood of death or injury is highest, engaging training — such as behavioral modeling, simulation and hands-on training — is considerably more effective than passive training — like lectures, films, reading materials and videos — for both learning about and demonstrating on-the-job safety.

However, less-engaging training can be equally effective in preparing workers to avoid accidents when jobs are less dangerous.

“The primary psychological mechanism we can offer as an explanation for these results is something called the ‘dread factor,’” the study’s lead author, Tulane University’s Michael Burke, Ph.D., said in an announcement of the findings.

This response enhances the ability to learn, particularly when workers are preparing to deal with more threatening hazards.

“In a more interactive training environment, the trainees are faced more acutely with the possible dangers of their job and they are, in turn, more motivated to learn about such dangers and how to avoid them,” according to Burke.

For example, when hazardous events and exposures are extreme — as with fires, explosions, exposure to toxic chemicals or radiation — the action, dialogue and considerable reflection that occur in interactive training are expected to create a sense of dread and awareness of the dangers of the job.

The findings offer practical implications for employers who may be hesitant to invest in more expensive interactive-training programs.

“Distance learning and electronic learning may appear to be more cost effective. But our findings point to the value of investing in more hands-on training to help prevent the enormous financial and human costs associated with disasters like the Upper Big Branch mine explosion,” Burke continued. “Our findings also show that the less expensive, and less interactive, training may be a good fit for workers who are not facing particularly hazardous situations on the job.”

Resources

The Dread Factor: How Hazards and Safety Training Influence Learning and Performance
by Michael J. Burke, Rommel O. Salvador, Suzanne Chan-Serafin, Alexis Smith and Shirley Sonesh
Journal of Applied Psychology (Vol. 96 No. 1), January 2011

Dreading Danger: Highly Interactive Training Helps Workers in Dangerous Jobs Avoid Deadly Mistakes
American Psychological Association, Jan. 26, 2011

Workplace Injuries and Illnesses – 2009
U.S. Department of Labor, Oct. 21, 2010

Lessons Learned: Situations for Workplace Safety and Health
Lowell Center for Sustainable Production (University of Massachusetts Lowell), February 2011