Business case for engaging and impactful safety e-learning programs:

E-learning programs have gained much needed impetus in the pandemic period. Corporations are now completely enrolled into the benefits and advantages of having remote learning / e-learning programs in their repositories for meeting their training targets. Remote safety training and e-learning programs are not far behind either.

Safety e-learning programs have in fact, taken precedence, simply because they are indispensable. The pandemic gave enough worries to safety teams, however, e-learning programs became their saviors for the day. Primarily, EHS teams utilized these e-learning programs for refresher training, new employee inductions & primers to actual on-the-job training, knowledge sharing & creating safety awareness among stakeholders and more. The effectiveness of these training programs was realized and available for everyone to witness.

Once the proverbial dam burst, EHS teams opened up to many number of possibilities for continual training of workforces. The results that were being accomplished were also satisfactory. However, the effectiveness of many of these safety e-learning programs was questionable. Primarily, e-learning programs were nothing more than pre-recorded videos of training instructors providing safety training bundled along with prevalent slide based presentations.

Experiential and blended learning came about as an essential evolution to these e-learning programs. Companies (ASK-EHS included) have started to enhance the engagement levels of these programs by using interactive and gaming elements to their e-learning programs. It is pretty much well known now that actual work site videos, 2D / 3D animation, actual (life-like) models & characters and existing work landscapes can potentially & significantly enhance the engagement levels of any training program.

A) Recreating ‘life-like’ 3D models of characters, buildings, machinery, site landscapes etc., help human brains in retaining information better. So much so that they are able to recall inferences, instinctively.

B) Motion graphics and animation using specific 3D models developed for showing correct (read accurate) sequences help recreate  the actual SOPs or production work flows

C) True to life incidents used hypothetically, help in creating an impactful understanding of the gravity and critical nature of the activity

Besides enhancing the interactivity, such animation clips have proven to be great assets for people who need to be trained despite their educational challenges. They could be inadequately educated but are highly skilled in the activity that they are going to do (as well as experienced). However, with changing times and safety attitudes of organizations, they are also required to make changes to their work habits. While training them is the only way to ensure optimum results, the pandemic threw the safety training plans and targets out of the window. Hence, e-learning containing such animation clips act as a great refresher for each of these cadre of work forces as well.

The quality of pre and post assessments may also determine the kind of results that we can expect from these e-learning programs. Carefully thought out learning paths and engaging content are a must have for safety e-learning programs as well.

How much of an impact do you think 2D & 3D animation movie clips make in an e-learning program? Write your views in the comments section.