Intertek Alchemy Releases Findings from Its First State of Workplace Safety Training Survey
February 8th, 2021
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Feb. 8, 2021 – AUSTIN, TEXAS – Intertek Alchemy, a global leader in training for manufacturing and food processing industries, today released the findings of its first State of Workplace Safety Training survey, which reveals the top challenges companies face when developing and implementing safety training programs, while providing 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 cannot verify if their programs are effective. Even with their best efforts to provide training, 66 percent still have employees who do not follow workplace safety protocols on the floor. The survey 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.
Rick Gehrke, Senior Environmental Safety and Health Consultant at Intertek Alchemy, said: “Companies are under ever increasing pressure to adequately train employees to work safely. 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 to better power their workforce.”
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.