Workplace Communicator Blog

Safety Expert Interviews on Safety Communication and Safety Training

At the Melbourne Safety in Action Show on 18 April, we filmed video interviews with four safety experts that we streamed live over the Internet. 

Our four safety experts gave valuable and insightful information on how to improve workplace safety communication, induction training and interesting trends in safety.

These are now available for viewing.

Our four safety experts include:

1. Kevin Jones - freelance writer, health and safety advisor, editor of the SafetyAtWorkBlog, safety advisor to the Department of Transport.

Summary of Kevin Jones Interview

• Paperwork is important for safety - Companies need to show evidence based decision-making in safety and requires documentation.  Also referred to as "red tape".   Needs to be provided to regulators and insurers.  By having correct paperwork, Government authorities can check that the company has done the right thing and follow the decision process.  This can save money in the long run, but it means that companies need to resource safety departments with more people.

• Open communication about safety - New duty for people to consult with their workforce about safety.  Need to listen to workers before making a decision.  Fear that it means giveing away authority.  Safety needs to be about talking to people who it involves.  Better decisions are made when it incorporates dialogue from a range of people.

• Successful companies collaborate on safety- Many companies work in separate silos for HR, safety and production.  All need to talk and work together and integrate  systems.  Often, both HR and safety professionals know little about what each other does. By each department working together and learning about what each other does, it means processes will become more integrated.  For example: involving the safety professional with the return to work program, rather than it being jsut an HR function.  Safety needs to be seen as a theme that goes across all units.

• Safety in design- Safety is a big cost if retro-fitted (and it's ugly!).  Safety must  be designed into systems right at the start whether it be designing houses, cars or household products.  This is simliar to what the green movement has done with products that are designed with how they will be recycled at the end of their life cycle. Need to consider whole lifespan of products from design, construction, maintenance and demolition.

2. Dr Angelica Vecchio-Sadus- HSE Leader at CSIRO Process Science and Engineering.

Summary of Dr Angelica Vecchio-Sadus interview

• CSIRO has a high risk safety profile due to agribusiness, chemicals, mining, firearms and nanotechnology.  HSE factored into everything they do.

• Safety communication doesn't work when it's too gimmicky.  Avoid cutesy animals and children in safety.  Need to appeal to the emotions relevant to their job.  Connect to hearts and minds.

• Clear communication that is sincere.  Road test before launch.  Get those involved with the design and message.  Remember, safety is about people going home safely.

 3. Marilyn Hubner - Workplace Learning and Development Specialist at the National Safety Council of Australia.  She is also working on her PhD on "Investigating attitudes and perceptions of Construction Workers towards Safety Training”. 

 Summary of Marilyn Hubner Interview:

• Relevant training - trainees need to know exactly why they are doing training and what the benefit to them will be.  Often people made to do training, so company can tick a legislative training box.  Not engaging and trainees will not listen to what's not interesting.

• Optimism Bias - Perception that an accident is more likely to happen to someone else in their workplace rather than themself.  When those with an optimism bias go to training, think they're already safe, so switch off to training.  Hard to teach.

• Engage trainees with customised training - Staff need input into the training content and when it's run.  Needs relevant case studies concerning their company or at least, their industry.

• Customised v. off-the-shelf training videos - Video is important to include in training videos, as it allows trainees to hear a differnt 'voice' during training.  Generic training videos are just as bad as generic training material.  If the video is not relevant to that workplace, then people will tune out.  Invest in customised videos that can be used for inductions/refreshers or stream all the time in workplace.  This enables companies to constantly promote the right safety behaviour.

 4. Interview with John Lacey, Video President IOSH & CEO Lincsafe

Summary of John Lacey Interview:

• Induction training is extremely critical - Main opportunity for new employees and contractors to understand how that company operates.

• Engagement is crucial - Must make sure inductions aren't more of the same.  Trainer must be passionate about training and want to do it.  Must relay the passion of the company.

• Safety culture and induction training - This is the chance to outline the culture.  The CEO needs to visit and reinforce what is being said. 

 Thank you to all of of our guest interviewees.

Seven Concepts to Include in your Training Videos

Training videos are a great way to get your important training messages instantly understood by your new starters, current staff and contractors.

However, most training videos miss the mark when it comes to aligning new staff with their core values and vision, as well as engaging new starters.

New employees are at their most teachable when they first start a job.  This is an opportune time to explain the culture of the company, the type of work and outcomes that are expected and the company attitude towards safety.

Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great, claims that what stood great companies apart from good companies was how deeply and consistently staff at the company lived, breathed and expressed the core values.  At their best, core values give workers a framework for making the right decision that benefits the company.  Safety excellent companies lead by their values than by rules.  Rather than forced compliance, they lead by shared ownership of values whereby staff are empowered to make decisions.

In addition, senior leadership play an important role in establishing the culture of the company, including the safety culture.  Safety excellent companies let new staff know from day one the importance of safety as they know that poor inductions undervalue the importance of safety.

Based on the information that makes good companies great, here are some key concepts that you need to include in your workplace training videos:

1. Demonstrate your core values - Talk about each of your core values and discuss what they mean and how they work.  Why are they important?  Give examples of how staff use the core values to make decisions that are right for the company.
2. Get senior leaders to introduce the video - Senior leaders are crucial in aligning staff with the goals, vision and core values.  Film your senior leader welcoming new starters, explaining the need for the video, what they will learn, what the company is about, what's important etc.  Senior leaders are often travelling and out of the office, but having them chat in a friendly way to camera, makes them seem more approachable (and real).
3. Tell stories - Stories provide an emotional connection to information and provide a framework for staff to understand what is acceptable company behaviour and what is not.  They are ideal to use when giving examples of staff doing the right thing, working hard to reach a goal and working together as a team.  Work out which stories to use in your company in the article How to find the right stories for your Company.
4. Use animations - Animations can go where trainees can't go.  They are perfect for showing how the body works and how it can get affected poor lifting techniques and stress.
5. Credible spokespeople - Customers, clients and patients are surprisingly more effective in motivating people to work harder, smarter and more productively.  Getting your end users to talk about how your products and services have helped them is a proven way to motivate staff.
6. Use quizzes - Quiz your learners after (or during) the video training. This makes sure they have absorbed the information.  Use a quiz as a review tool. This is a great way to refresh staff.  Even if they only watch a small segment of an induction training video (for example: warm up exercises, by undertaking a small quiz on this topic, you know that they have learnt the information).  Interestingly, research studies point to high levels of recall and understanding of video, provided that viewers were told they were going to be tested before watching the video.
7. Include face to face time - Often, companies think because they have a training video they do not need a trainer to go through the information.  This is a mistake.  It's still important to include face to face time so that the trainee can ask questions and get feedback on any tasks they are practising.  Mind you, the face to face time will be sufficiently reduced, but it needs to be enough so that the trainee can engage more with the material.  One good training methodology is to use the video as the main form of training (as opposed to a PowerPoint presentation) while a trainer moves progressively through the information, stopping to talk about the different topics.  Done well, this can ensure consistent training across the company.

Training Videos: Why Every Company Needs Them

Think training videos are all about bad hair and music?

Find out the science behind why training videos are so effective and why every company needs to use them in workplace training.

Seven Reasons why Training Videos are so Effective

Training videos are a highly effective way to get trainees to remember and understand information.

This is because they:

1. Are visually based - The majority of our brain real estate is devoted to processing visual information.  Our brain loves visuals and learns much faster from pictures than words.  We're really good at remembering pictures and they draw our attention.  Called the Picture Superiority Effect, we remember 65% of what we have learnt three days after, provided it is both a picture and a word shown together compared to 10% for just a word alone.

2. Use Audio and visuals together- Presenting information both audibly and visually reinforces information in multiple brain areas, this dual-encoding process  increases the chance that material will be stored in long-term memory.

3. Are more engaging - If you've ever sat in a classroom with a teacher droning on and on, you know what I mean.  Remember, when you were at school and  how excited you were when the teacher said you were going to watch a "film"?  This still holds true with adults and children alike.  Provided that the training video is made correctly, and more importantly that trainees are told they will be tested afterwards, you will get high levels of understanding and recall (If students are told they are watching a training video and that's it, they will learn less, better to tell them they need to do a short quiz, even if there isn't one).

4. Go where trainees can't go - This is where 3D animations surpass even the most brilliant teacher in helping trainees understand how the body works.  It is so much easier to understand how poor lifting techniques affect the spine when you see an animated version. 

5. Show demonstrations - Similar to an animation, well made training videos show how a particular process occurs.  Rather than the trainee having to read or hear about it, they get to see what happens.  This is really important for procedures that are difficult to show in a classroom environment (eg: doing a forklift safety check, operating the big machine that doesn't fit in the classroom etc).  This is effectively making an abstract concept (words about a process) more concrete (visuals) which helps people to better understand information.  We learn by watching people doing things

6. Are quick - Properly produced a training video will explain information in about half the time as words alone.  Using visuals helps people instantly understand information and results in less confusion.

7. Provides consistent training - Keeping strict version control on your PowerPoint training presentations and ensuring that your trainers are all teaching the same thing is a legislative requirement.  If a death were to occur at your company site, the coronial inquest would request that the training materials used on the day the person was inducted and trained be submitted for review.  If there is evidence that the PowerPoint version was open and anyone could change it or that the trainer did their own version of training, then that company would be found to be non-compliant training wise.  Ensuring consistent company training is not only better for employees, it's also good for business health.

All in all, produced correctly, training videos are a fantastic way to train staff.

5 Mistakes Companies Make with their Homemade Videos

Training videos are a highly effective and quick way to instantly communicate your important training messages to your staff, customers and contractors.

But like everything in life - you get what you pay for.  Poorly produced training videos can be a waste of time and resources.  And if you're using them for customers, be really careful you're not damaging your brand and more importantly, your credibility.

Here are five common mistakes.  There are lots, lots more, but here are the main ones.

1. Not using a tripod - This would have to be one of the simplest things to do, but remarkably one of the sure signs of an amateur video is hand-held wobbly vision.  You'd swear that the camera operator was an old, recovering alcoholic.  The main problem with this is that as a viewer you get really distracted by the wobbles (and you do ask yourself, is that dude okay?, are they about to fall over?) rather than listening to the person talking to camera or the important procedure.  This also extends to lots of moving vision when a person is talking.  Your eyes follow the path of the camera and our brain believes that the new camera move is leading to important information.

One frustrating example is in this video about Hepatitis in which a Hepatitis C sufferer talks about his ordeal.  Rather, than give this person the respect he deserves, the camera moves about so much that you just know that the camera operator is bored with the information.  The camera focuses on his ear (and you think, did this disease give him ear problems?), then the top of his head.  Even more confusingly while  he's talking, vision is shown with him giving a hopeful smile.  This video fails because the camera work is so erratic that you're too busy following what's going on to have any brain width left to listen to the poor interviewee.

One of the reasons why video is so amazing at quickly getting information across is because it uses both audio and visual information (which is like a dual-encoding process in the brain).  To make this work, you need to complement the audio information with relevant visuals.  If you don't do this, people will give up on listening because it's too hard to work out on what's going on or even if they do stick with it, they will remember very little.

An example that frustrated me enormously was a testimonial style video made for Google Apps called "Flight Centre has gone Google".  You'd think Google would have the best marketing and training videos around, because after all they own YouTube.  But sadly, this video was so bad I didn't dare show it to my business partner as to why we needed the services.  He would have spat the dummy at this clumsy attempt at communication.

This video fails on quite a number of levels:

• They've tried to make it exciting.  Jarring music is used that is too loud and makes it hard to hear what they're saying.
• Quick, wobbly cuts make it difficult to focus on what people are talking about.  Important points are quickly cut to the next point making it hard for the brain to absorb what has been said and the importance of it.
• Really poor choices of cut aways are used.  My favourite is the staff member having a peak at whether he's being filmed.  He's being matched to the content of a "global solution" (he should have been matched to "Staff always like to know what you're doing").  Also, the one where the Account Manager is talking about servers and the camera vision focuses on a hard hat in the office.  Priceless!  (By the way, we're using this video internally to show our new recruits how to not create a video).

Zappos is another well know company that seems to have missed the point of cut aways.  This amazing company (see my book review Delivering Happiness), has some of the worst examples of training and marketing videos around.  Sadly, they think they're really great because they have an in-house team who went to film school.  If only film school taught them how to communicate to a business audience.

Zappos are renowned for their core values.  In this video, staff members name the core values, but very few of them are explained.  It also features lots of nauseatingly wobbly vision, distracting music and audio.  However, they do use cut aways well towards the end.  It just needed to be consistent.  This is one of those videos you don't really want your customers to see.  Even if you think it shows you as being quirky.  Zappos just appear disorganised, unable to focus and having a really lazy and careless attitude to their core values (which isn't true, but that's the message the video makes).

3. Distracting Backgrounds and Audio - A well made video gets people understanding and listening to what you're talking about.  As mentioned before, what makes video so powerful is the use of both audio and visual together.  Get one wrong and you might as well not bother.  People's eyes will go to what's moving.  So if someone walks past the back of the set where someone is being interviewed.  Guess what everyone looks at?  And if that person manages to look at the camera in an interesting way?  Ditto.

It's also the same with audio.  Make sure the person talking to camera is the only one talking.  Don't have other people having a conversation in the back of the room (hello, Zappos!)

And always remove inappropriate items in the background.  Discard the empty bottle sitting on the mantlepiece (yep, Zappos again), the naked pictures on someone's desk and anything that will distract from your message.  Remember the uproar when the Macquarie bank staff member looked at Miranda Kerr pictures during the live piece to camera?

4. Saying too much - This is a big issue and it's also one in professionally made videos.  Work out your key messages beforehand and stick to them.  Avoid the CEO meandering and repeating information.  Make it short and insightful.  One of the worst company training videos that I was made to watch by a client was 30 minutes.  We would have been able to do it in 10 minutes.  And because they hadn't filmed enough vision, they repeated vision from other sections to fill it up.  And the camera operator narrated it while he walked around.  Appalling!  I still have nightmares about that one.

5. Wasting time filming and editing - Creating a video takes time.  A lot of time.

First, there's writing the script, filming, directing, organising the voiceover (please use a professional, not Sam in accounts because he acted in a school play when he was 15.  And don't even consider narrating while you're filming), editing and exporting to the final format.  Each of theses stage is time consuming and difficult to get right for the novice (even if they did make a photo slideshow of their kid's dance concert in 2008).

What do you want staff doing?  Working on projects that will boost your bottom line or stuffing around trying to work out how to press record on a video camera?

So if you are making a training video for your company, write a script that is succinct, film using a tripod (or better yet, get a professional camera operator), ensure no distracting objects or people are in your shots, get a professional voice record and match your visual and audio content.

And if you're using a professional, just make sure they don't convince you to use hand-held wobbly vision.  It's just a sign that the production house finds your content boring and they want to spice it up.

Digicast Featured on "Technology Behind Business"

Research shows that companies that have a learning culture are more profitable and productive than those that don't have one.

But faced with tight budgets, competitive pressures and diminishing time, many organisations under-invest in both learning and training.

John Kerrison, the host behind the Sky News Australia program "Technology Behind Business" posed this topic to a three person panel.  John wanted to find out, how important these areas are, common mistakes companies make and innovative ways training & learning solutions can be delivered.

The panel consisted of Karen van Druten from Strategic Human Resource Consulting, Marie-Claire Ross from Digicast Productions (and the writer of this blog), as well as Paul Hardwick from Seertech Solutions.

You can watch the 12 minute panel interview by clicking here.

Runaway Dog becomes Willing Star in CFA Training Video

Meet Max.  Actually, we don't know this dog's name.  But he has potentially become the new dog star in an up and coming training video for the Country Fire Authority (CFA).

We are currently working on a training video on Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) awareness among volunteers and paid workers (all 65,000 of them!) for the CFA.  It's a great program that supports members that are emotionally affected by an emergency event.

As part of the video, we are developing a brain animation to show how stress effects the brain and therefore, the body.

I've written the brain animation script from a story perspective.  This includes showing a man driving a car and then a stressful event occurring.  My initial idea was for a dog to run out while he was driving.  However, the client and I realised that this would involve hiring an animal actor agency and this got really complicated.  So I re-wrote the scene to have a ball instead.

So last week, we went down a quiet, country road to film a ball flying in their air and the car stopping quickly.

But amazingly, when we got to the road to film, a lovely, fat brown labrador came over to see what we were up to.

I suggested that we befriend him and get him to chase the ball.

To our delight, Max loved playing with the ball.  So Norm Bowen and Paul Tangey, from the CFA, both discovered hidden talents as dog wranglers.

And you wouldn't believe it, but Max did a perfect take in the first shot (of course, he wasn't harmed and seemed to be enjoying it all so much, we did a couple more goes) .

We then filmed other shots and Max went off and had a rest.  The weird thing was when he saw the camera being put away, he started barking and growling.  It wasn't until we got the camera out and got him to pose that he was happy.  Seems to me like Max was just waiting to get his picture taken.

Isn't it lovely when animals just know what you want and help?  Really looking forward to seeing the finished result.

How to make the Best Training Video

Alert: Inappropriate visual. Example of how bad it is to put the wrong visuals with your content. It doesn't matter if the picture is nice or funny.

Research suggests that learners more easily understand and recall new material presented in video that allow participants to both hear and see the information (Gunter, et al. 2000; Molen, et al. 2000; Lalley 1998).

This dual-encoding process reinforces information in multiple brain areas, thereby increasing the chances that the material will be stored in long-term memory.

In fact, I'd go as far as saying that video has a triple-encoding process.  An expertly produced training video, will get people to read, see and hear information resulting in recall levels of 60% (as opposed to reading which is 10%).

Video is extremely powerful at communicating messages and helping people to remember them.  And that is why I love them!

But, not all training videos are created equal.  To make the most of the dual-encoding process (uh herm, triple-encoding)- in the brain, there are certain attributes that the video must have, in order to store information in long term memory.

Here are some important training video tips:

1. Match the visuals, titles and voiceover - This is a common mistake of amateurs.  Sadly, even  some experienced editors have difficulty with this one.  This is one of the reasons why training videos are so powerful, but so many production houses get it wrong.  Remember, don't skimp on editing time.  It is worth the time and effort to use lots of titles and to match the vision accurately.

2. Focus the training video on instructional design principles. Producing a training video is more than just editing and filming.  The script must be written in a way so as to enhance learning.  Avoid working with directors whose main desire is to be a Hollywood producer.  While you are getting a training video made, remember it is just another communication tool like a poster  magazine ad.  It is not about amazing pictures with  stereophonic sound.  How it is put together is a necessary requirement, but it is the instructional design principles behind it that make all the difference.

3. Entertaining videos usually don't work.  Avoid effects that do not add to communicating your message.  Do you really need the paint splash effect title when your company has nothing to do with paint?

4. Change what's on screen every 5-7 seconds. Use a variety of communication methods - titles, different voiceovers, numerous camera perspectives  and a change in music.  Keep people engaged.

5. Show people as much as you can. People like looking at people. Again, amateurs don't get this key principle.  I have seen amateur videos where a blank wall has been an unnecessary feature point while the narrator rambled on.  No joke.

6. Linear sequence (Step 1, Step 2 etc) avoid Step 2, Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 5 etc).  Our conscious brain absorbs information in a linear fashion.  Information must always be given from start to end with no confusing jumping back and forth.  With any type of training the structure is crucial to success.  This is the same with an educational video.   In a video, it can be quite boring and annoying to see things twice or in the wrong order.  Makes it difficult to understand.

7. Script - This is crucial.  It must be friendly and  conversational.  Use short words and sentences.  This is not a time to make out your clever because you know some big words.   And don't get lazy and refer people to a book (yes, some training videos do that!)

8. Segregate the training video into chapters and make these clear. Just like a book, structure the training video into a range of titles and subtitles and make these easy to skip to.  By using titles in the video on the next topic, it helps to focus viewers on what they are going to learn next.

Training videos are an incredibly effective method of training people quickly and thoroughly.  More importantly, they help viewers to retain the information much more than if they were to read the information or even hear it.  But they have to be made right.  By spring boarding off what makes training videos so great and including these components in you training video, you'll get fantastic training outcomes.

Announcing Seven Communication Tips for Workplace Safety Managers Seminar at Safety in Action 2011

Getting Safety Training Messages to stick can be Tricky.  Find out Seven Key Factors behind Successful Workplace Communication and how to implement them.

Melbourne, Australia (9 March, 2011) – Digicast Productions, a safety and induction training video package production house, today announced that their popular seminar “Seven communication tips for workplace safety managers” will be available to all trade show visitors of Safety in Action in Melbourne during the 5 – 7 April 2011.

In this short, free 30 minute seminar, participants will learn:

• The most important components to include in induction training

• Seven communication tips for success

• How to be the industry leader in workplace communication.

Located at the Demonstration Stage seminar session times are:

• Tuesday 5 April– 2pm

• Wednesday 6 April– 1pm

• Thursday 7 April– 1pm

"Good clear points.  Good research data. Good examples". Alison Hunt-Sturman, Faculty OHSE Manager, University of Melbourne

All participants will receive a free copy of the popular white paper “Seven Communication Tips for Workplace Safety Messages”.

For a complete copy of the whitepaper, visit http://info.digicast.com.au/workplace-safety-messages/

"Easy to understand and listen to". Cameron Cranstoun, HSE Manager, The Bayside Group

Digicast Productions will present the Seven Communication Tips seminar at Safety In Action, which runs from April 5 to 7 at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. For more information, visit www.safetyinaction.net.au, email safetyvisitor@aec.net.au or phone Australian Exhibitions & Conferences Pty Ltd on 03 9654 7773.

About Digicast Productions

Established in 1991, Digicast is an Australian vendor of customised safety and induction training videos. Thousands of people each year worldwide are trained with Digicast training videos. For more information, visit Digicast at www.digicast.com.au or The Workplace Improver blog for training tips, www.digicast.com.au/blog.  Digicast will also be located at stand S14.

Contact Marie-Claire Ross

Digicast Productions

+ 61 3 9696-4400

mc@digicast.com.au

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How to Create the Best Workplace Training Materials

Companies often tell us that they are frustrated by how hard it is to engage staff with training.

After a bit of digging, we usually find out that training consists of:

1. A trainer talking a lot,
2. Some trainer made PowerPoint slides (learn how to improve your training presentations here) that generally consists of lots of words, or
3. A black and white manual that staff are expected to read.

What research has found is that is that passive/low engagement training is ineffective compared to active/high engagement training.   Passive training is when you get a trainer or lecturer telling lots of information or when lots of reading is involved.

The most engaging methods of safetytraining are, on average, approximately three times more effectivethan the least engaging methods in promoting knowledge and skillacquisition, as well as reducing accidents,illnesses, and injuries.

So any training that is designed around a trainer reading through slides is not enough to create engagement.  Nor is producing a training manual and expecting workers to read it.

The Most Effective Training Materials

Educational researchers have found that 83% of human learning occurs visually.  The right brain prefers visuals and can process pictures hundreds of times faster than words.

When it comes to producing training materials, it's a good idea to use as many visuals as you can.  And to really increase engagement, try and get trainees to touch, see and hear (obviously, taste and smell aren't suitable to all industries, but they work especially well in food).  Use as many of the senses as you can during training.

And while having a trainer talking at students is passive training including lots of "Show and Tell" or demonstrations takes the training to a new level.  This is where the trainer demonstrates a process and gets the trainee to have a go.  This is integral to an active learning style.  Coaching is then given to improve.  Which brings us to assessment, which is also really important with learning.  It is important that trainees get face to face feedback on how to improve rather than information from a computer.

A Checklist for Creating Effective Training Materials

To make use of this powerful memory booster, training materials need to be centred around a visually appealing training video.  By getting learners to see, listen and read important information you start getting higher levels of recall than just reading alone.  After all,  we remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear and 30% of what we see, so by addressing these three areas, recall is increased to 60% v 10% for reading alone.

But just having a training video is not enough.  Another important addition to your training kit is the Trainer's Manual.  This guide needs to help the trainer know the best method to teach the material.  It needs to include a trainer's session schedule that has advice on what segments of the training video to play, what questions to discuss, when to do a demonstration, when to get trainees to have a go, when to pass around relevant items and the questions and answers for the quiz (and how to test respondents and discuss the answers).

In addition, to really keep trainees engaged and to help them believe that the training is important, each trainee needs to receive their own copy of an Employee Handbook.  This is the document that they go through in class, it needs to have information on how to undertake tasks, as well as photos that will remind them of the training video that they have seen.  The booklet needs to also contain their quiz with space for them to write in their answers  (also gives them ownership rights).

By using these three main training materials, you end up with a self-contained training package that gives trainers the resources and support that they need to create an interactive and high engagement training session.  It will also ensure that training is taught consistently across numerous locations.