Safety

Column: Measuring the Effectiveness of Safety Training and Communication

How much value are you obtaining from your safety communication and training efforts?

By Shawn M. Galloway, ProAct Safety

How much value are you obtaining from your safety communication and training efforts? In the 1950s, a simple model was created to measure training effectiveness. How quickly we forget. Donald L. Kirkpatrick, when looking at opportunities to determine the effectiveness of training efforts, identified four levels to evaluate. The first level focuses on how the people receiving the training reacted to the information or experience (Reaction). The second level has to do with evaluating the change in knowledge, skill set, and attitude (Learning). The third level looks at a change or continuance of observable behavior within the work setting (Behavior). Finally, he looked at the measurable benefits the organization realized following the training (Results).

Too many businesses tend to look only at the amount of effort put into safety communication and training and then the results yielded. They falsely believe when results improve, it is because of the effort applied. This is the correlation/causation trap.

In several recent consulting engagements, we at ProAct Safety have focused clients on better understanding the Return on Safety Attention (ROSA) and Safety Intelligence Quotient (Safety IQ) resulting from their efforts.

Read the full column here.