This meta-analysis evaluated the published evidence to assess the efficacy of OHS training in terms of knowledge, attitude and beliefs, behaviour and health.
28 studies were included in the analysis.
Results:
Overall, results indicated a strong support for the effectiveness of training on worker attitudes and beliefs. This was also found to a lesser extent with worker’s knowledge.
Nevertheless, only medium strength evidence was found for training on behaviour change, and minor evidence for the effectiveness on health outcomes. On the latter, authors suggest that this effect may be explained by “the experience of adults [being] generally rich and this leads to rigidity of habits and to learning resistance” (p371).
The only training that didn’t achieve a statistically significant effect on attitudes and beliefs was based on an unstructured group discussion (being less effective than structured group discussions). For the effects on behaviours, interventions not found to have a statistically significant effect utilised the hand-out of a pamphlet, using pictograms, and again an unstructured group discussion.
Classroom theory training was the most common method employed, followed by e-learning, ergonomic training and hands-on practice. Despite classroom theory being the most common method, quoting the study, this meta-analysis “suggested that classroom training, although the most used and studied, does not ever revealed itself very effective: it was not significant for outcomes in terms of knowledge and showed a decreasing efficacy for attitudes and beliefs, behaviors and health” (p356).
Regarding the delivery of the training, most was delivered via an expert, a researcher, or less commonly a peer. Some used a self-learning approach. For the most effective type of training in terms of improving safety knowledge & attitudes, results indicated the self-learning modality supplied by learning sessions no longer than 1 h and not compulsory to be the most effective. Indeed, voluntary training was consistently found to be more effective than mandatory training.
For the most effective health training (despite only having minor evidence for effectiveness), was delivered by an individual or group on ergonomic training sessions, with a duration of no more than 8 hours.
Gender wasn’t found to influence the efficacy of training on knowledge, behaviours or health with the exception of changing attitudes and beliefs. Quoting the paper, “The presence of women among the participants seemed to have facilitated the willingness to change attitudes and beliefs in a positive way” (p368).
It explored a bunch of other moderating factors which I haven’t summarised.
Authors: Federico Ricci, Andrea Chiesi, Carlo Bisio, Chiara Panari, Annalisa Pelosi, 2016, Journal of Workplace Learning
Study link: https://doi.org/10.1108/JWL-11-2015-0087
Link to the LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/effectiveness-occupational-health-safety-training-ben-hutchinson/
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