Interviews with training exhibitors at the ASSP 2022 conference reveal these current trends in safety training.

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced $11.7 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants to support training and education for workers and employers. The goal is to help identify and prevent workplace safety and health hazards.  

ISHN interviewed former ASSP President Mark Hansen at the Safety 2022 conference in Chicago, and Mark highly recommends reading the book, “Deep Work,” by Cal Newport and published in 2017.
 “Deep Work” does not directly address workplace safety, but its application is obvious.

The last two years have demonstrated the importance of prioritizing overall health and well-being — and how everyone’s personal and work life affect each other. With safety being the number one priority in construction, leaders in the industry should take the lessons learned to implement a holistic approach to safety, addressing both physical and psychological health.

Loading zones are high-traffic work areas with many safety hazards. Even for fully-trained employees, bad habits and lapses in best safety practices can be fostered over time — such as using overhead doors without proper caution. 

Honeywell announced a new version of its Immersive Field Simulator (IFS) offering, a virtual reality (VR) and mixed-reality-based training tool that incorporates a digital twin of physical plant operations to provide targeted, on-demand, skill-based training for workers.

A flexible workplace allows employees to decide when and where they want to perform their work. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the workforce and the trend of flexible work is becoming more and more mainstream. Flexible work will likely persist even in the post-pandemic era.

Expenses are an unavoidable reality and the cost of doing business. The trick is to pick the right things to spend money on, to maximize revenue and minimize cost. In the post-COVID era absenteeism has skyrocketed in many industries, becoming a key focus for executives who want to bring down costs.