Safety training in context: technical, cultural and political factors affecting its design, delivery and transfer

Introduction: Safety training is integral to modern safety management systems. However, what is trained in the classroom is not always adopted and applied in the workplace, creating the training transfer problem. Taking an alternative ontological stance, the aims of this study were to conceptualize this problem as one of ‘fit’ between what is trained and the contextual factors in the work environment of the adopting organization. Method: Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with experienced health and safety trainers having diverse backgrounds and experience. Data were thematically coded ‘bottom-up’ to capture reasons for safety training and where consideration of context occurs in the design and delivery of training. Then, the codes were thematically grouped against a pre-existing framework to categorize contextual factors that affect ‘fit’ into technical, cultural, and political factors each operating at different levels of analysis. Results: Safety training occurs to satisfy external stakeholder expectations and meet internal perceptions of need. Consideration of contextual factors can occur both in the design and delivery of training. A range of technical, cultural, and political factors were identified, which can operate at individual, organizational, or supra-organizational levels to influence safety training transfer. Conclusions: The study draws particular attention to the influence of political factors and the impact of supra-organizational factors on the successful transfer of training, areas not consistently considered in safety training design and delivery. Practical Application: The application of the framework adopted in this study provides a useful tool for discriminating between different contextual factors and the level at which they operate. This could enable more effective management of these factors to improve the potential for transfer of safety training from the classroom to the workplace.