Training Session — or Reality Show?When it comes to having a training plan in place that benefits the agency and satisfies the requirements of PDRMA’s Loss Control Review (LCR), the Buffalo Grove Park District’s program gets high marks.
“Sometimes safety training can be boring, but we try to give it a different twist to make it fun — and educational,” says Tim Beckmann, Risk Manager, CPRP, CPSI.
 In 2014, the key to success was a Safety Survivor Day, inspired by television reality show competitions. The agency’s 14-member Safety Committee developed the one-day event, which even included its own logo. It was a hands-on experience that divided the 44 employees into teams to compete at five stations to win points for prizes. “The stations covered situations like Basic First Aid and Ladder Safety, which challenged participants to pick the right size ladder for the job,” Beckmann explains.
How did the Safety Committee choose the station themes? Committee members picked aspects of the agency’s policies and procedures where they felt staff could improve its performance.  “We had a lost child situation at a special event that could have been handled better, so we included a Lost Child Challenge, and hid mannequins throughout the park,” Beckmann recalls. “It turned out that one of the parks department staff spotted the last hidden mannequin, which was in a tree. We realized that parks employees should be part of a lost-child search, because they know the grounds so well.”
The Safety Survivor Day included two sessions, 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. To keep the fun — and the benefits of training — going, there was a follow-up competition. “Winners from the morning and afternoon sessions met one month later for a final challenge. They had to list all the hazards in a slideshow,” he says. “We also had a creative team-picture contest at our local parks that everyone at the agency voted on.”
Beckmann’s first personal experience with safety training when he joined Buffalo Grove three years ago was a one-hour PowerPoint presentation. “It was not exciting, and it didn’t include any real-life experience,” he recalls. Beckmann spent the next few months gaining real-life work experience that gave him the idea to try a new approach to training: a hands-on competition called “Safety Survivor.” And the rest was history.
Now the Safety Committee is busy considering topics and themes for fall 2015 trainings. “We’re thinking about emergency response plans related to weather and other scenarios,” he notes. Beckmann also hopes to include local park districts in future training sessions to expand everyone’s learning opportunities, share resources and save money.
 The results go far beyond the 1.16-percent improvement in the agency’s LCR score. “This new approach is changing the safety training environment for us; people are more involved than ever before, and the conversation is a part of everyone’s daily work experience.”
“A good training plan addresses yearly and long-term training objectives for members,” explains Jesse Kinsland, PDRMA Risk Management Consultant. “Consider a variety of training tools and delivery methods — online programs, 10-minute trainings, coaching visits, group activities, demonstrations, videos — to drive home the message. The plan should also include topics specific to each agency’s loss drivers. Making it fun is a great way to get staff to retain the training and look forward to participating in the future sessions.”
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