Safety is good, safety is...zzzzzzzz

"We had to watch about 20 videos about safety - they were ancient, like from the '80s... They were sooo boring." That was the complaint of a couple of 17-year-olds at a secondary school recently talking about the safety training they've been exposed to at workplaces.

(Hey, at least, they got safety training of some kind! So many new workers don't get any - and they get hurt or die as a result.)

But these teenagers' issue - of boredom and a complete lack of connection with the training materal - is commonplace and actually a real problem.

I talk to tens of thousands of young people each year, and I've heard it over and over.

It's a problem because tuned-out young workers are NOT getting the knowledge they need to stay safe!

So, who's going to do something about the tacky training?

A young woman at a different high school took it one step further at another one of my presentations - taking it beyond complaint to the level of problem solving. She stood up in front of her whole school and asked me: "How can employers make safety training more interesting to young workers?"

(She walked away $20 richer, as one of my winners for Most Interesting Question!)

Spice up safety for the newest gen

Both myself and the corporate champions on my panel took a run at some suggestions on how safety training might be spiced up - both at jobs, and beforehand (in the classroom and school co-op programs).

• Make new, more modern videos?
• Forget videos and kids snoozing in the dark - turn up the lights and have young workers sit in a circle and talk about safety stuff?
• Role play?
• Create online polls/quizzes, interactivities about safety?

No matter how you package it, safety training has GOT to grab the attention of the workers it's aimed at... or really, what's the point of offering it? Otherwise, you're just paying people to take a nap.

Students and young workers - What would get your attention for safety training?

Employers - what are you willing to invest in safety training, to help you retain, as well as recruit, the best and the brightest?