🌏 DAVID G. BROADBENT | GLOBAL SAFETY PSYCHOLOGIST | Mining · Oil & Gas · Aviation · Healthcare · Emergency Services - Construction

Learning and Development

The learning and development of your people is, in our opinion, the most critical function within your business. The key functions within the business continue to be people centric. Within the "safety world" that is even more so.

Proponents of behavioural safety systems argue that over ninety percent (90%) of accidents can be directly attributed to a human element. Whilst we at Transformational Safety argue that such is a very simplistic amplification of the reality; we still acknowledge that the human element is often amongst the most significant influencing variables within the accident causation melange. What this means is clearly we need to ensure that our people, and therefore our workplace systems, are fully aware, cognisant and adept at recognising the myriad of workplace issues etc that might contribute to flaws/fractures within the resident safety systems.

Transformational Safety often finds that businesses sadly see learning and development as a discretionary spend when times are good.

Oh.... how so short sighted and downright dangerous!

As recently as 2022 Deakin University (in partnership with global consulting firm - Deloittes) published an excellent paper "The Business Return on Learning and Development". Their conclusion was, from a fiscal position alone, every $1.00 spent on learning and development produced a return on investment (ROI) of $4:70. I'll invest my "hard earned" in any program that delivers me that sort of return every day of the year - and this investigation did not even consider safety outcomes for a moment. If you would like to receive a free copy of this exceptional review then just click here.

It is at times such has occurred during the COVID years, where the need to ensure a consistent reinforcing learning and development plan designed around safety factors is even more critical.

We know that during times of both personal and occupational uncertainty people "drift" for all sorts of associated reasons. This is the last thing you want your people doing; particularly in the middle of a high risk procedure. Or, even more scary (and likely) within a low risk task that is a component of a high risk process - that is a disaster waiting to happen. So what we know is that learning and development may need to be better focused during difficult times, no argument from me there, though it certainly should not be seen as "discretionary"!

Transformational Safety has a lengthy history of developing and delivering bespoke safety learning and development modules/programs that have a track record of success. This is because we provide something that, to the best of our knowledge, no other safety consultancy provides throughout the world. At the conclusion of every intervention the Transformational Safety facilitator makes a compact with the participants. For a period of six (6) months, following the intervention, all participants have unrestricted access to the facilitator in order to assist each and every participant develop and integrate their learning's within their own world. This is unprecedented, and goes a long way to avoiding the trap of what we have called the "One Hit Wonder" training course. You know what they are, you have probably attended more than a few in your time. They are where you take off somewhere for a day or two in an artificial environment and learn all the "good stuff". Think of it as having been given the "keys to the city". Anyway after the course you leave the flash resort and return to the "city". Guess what? You put your new key in the door and it does not fit? Transformational Safety's six (6) month compact goes a long way to making sure that your keys do fit.