This blog post shares a few ideas to implement fire-safety training through eLearning at your workplace.
S etting off the fire with eLearning – Ideas for Fire-safety training at your workplace
Welcome to today’s blog post. Since the enactment of OSH Act of 1970, workplace safety has moved up the agenda of every company. As a part of this initiative, employees are being made aware of the recognized hazards at their workplaces and the safety measures to be followed during an emergency situation. One such training program that is very important for employees is the fire safety training. To be honest, I do not have a clue about where the emergency exit is or where we can find the fire extinguishing equipment in our office. In this post, I will try to discuss a few ideas to implement fire-safety training through eLearning at your workplace.
Have an Expert Guide Them Through:
Guided learning is ideal when it comes to safety training. It’s not that we do not want to learn or listen to someone. We all like to learn provided, it comes out of an expert. And, we wouldn’t be accepting computers or other machines govern and tell us what to do, what not to (even though it is the current scenario). Hence, the computer is ruled out of the list of experts. Let’s bring in a virtual expert in to our course. We call them avatars. These digital characters will guide your learners throughout the training, generating a “bond” with them. In our case, we can use a fire-man as an avatar (not to forget that firemen are often looked up to in many countries). This fire-man will talk to your learners, introduce them to the fire hazards at the workplace, explain to them the actions to be taken during a fire breakout and evaluate their learning.
Exploration is the Key:
All these years, I’ve created training programs for several types of audience. Some learners complain about being restricted on how they go around the courses. They express an interest to learn at their free will. Here’s where the strategy Explore-and-Learn comes in. Employing this strategy to teach fire-safety is an interesting task. One idea is that we create a digital layout of the workplace, some kind of a map. In this, we can mark the areas of recognized hazards which the learner has to click through to learn in detail. The information on safety measures can then follow.
Gear Up for Safety Get into the Groove with E-learning
Game-it-on!!
Dealing with tough learners that carry low motivational levels to work? We have an idea. We all love to be challenged, as long as there is a pretty good chance of winning. This paved the path for video games. Not everyone may be a gaming freak, but I’m sure most of us have tried our hand at one form of a game or a puzzle. Gamification is the most engaging form of digital learning. It demands great amount of learner involvement and also generates a sense of competitiveness. These two aspects work in our favor when it comes to lackluster safety training. You can first display an animation with the steps required to be taken during a fire emergency. The same can then be simulated for the learner to try on. For example, if we have to teach the learner about different types of fire extinguishers, we can first demonstrate their usage with an animation and then present a few scenarios to the learners to use the appropriate extinguisher for each. The user responses can be calculated, and a score can be displayed.
These are just a few ideas to go about fire safety training using eLearning. I’m sure we can also apply other learning strategies such as storytelling, case-studies, etc., to present the information to our learners.
What is your approach for conducting safety training effectively at your workplace? Please share your views in the comments section below.
Happy Reading!!
