How can awareness training improve competency?

Safety awareness training sessions are short presentations delivered by site personnel or external providers, typically during toolbox or pre-start talks.

They can be used to:

• provide workers with information about common workplace hazards
• promote discussion about general safety and health topics
• highlight a recent incident at the mine site or elsewhere (e.g. Mines Safety Significant Incident Report published by the department) to share the learnings.

Examples of awareness training sessions include:

• mental health and wellbeing
• fire safety
• snake safety
• lighting safety
• hazard-specific awareness (e.g. sources of hazardous energies on plant).

Awareness sessions inform the workforce about key issues of importance typically with no assessment after the session. The sole aim is to share information.

These awareness sessions increase workers’ and supervisors’ knowledge of basic safety hazards and inform them where to get more information and advice about occupational health and safety topics. The sessions may be used to help the mining operation prepare for the implementation of new safe work procedures, or provide reminders about existing safe work practices for critical tasks.

Awareness training can be used as a stepping stone to more in-depth training or to provide a refresher for training already received.

Further information:

Safety awareness training provides a basic understanding of safety and health issues and does not replace any legally required training, sector-specific training, inductions or verification-of-competency assessments.