The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) has highlighted concerns that generic, completion based training may be contributing to gaps in the prevention of serious injuries and fatalities.
The findings follow working sessions involving nearly 100 safety professionals in Chicago and Washington, D.C., examining falls from height and lockout tagout failures.
Insights from the sessions were published in the Serious Injury and Fatality Prevention Convening Report, released on 10 August 2026.
Safety training gaps
Participants identified training that is generic, infrequent or focused primarily on completion as one factor potentially limiting the effectiveness of existing hazard controls.
They noted that this approach can result in organisations assuming workers have developed necessary competencies without verifying their understanding.
Participants proposed greater use of practical, role based learning, with competency demonstrated rather than relying solely on attendance records.
Lauren Bauerschmidt, Senior Manager of Standards and Technical Publications at ASSP, said: “One of the biggest things that safety professionals do is training.
“But who wants to sit through safety training? No one. So, you’re already in an environment that isn’t great. But if there’s an incident and OSHA comes in, what’s one of the first things they will ask you for? Your training log.”
Practical safety learning
The report discussions highlighted opportunities to make training more relevant through videos, case studies, equipment demonstrations and other practical approaches.
However, ASSP acknowledged that organisations have different levels of resources available for developing and delivering training.
Emerging technology was also identified as a potential way of providing workers with reminders and information when needed.
AI supports safety information
ASSP highlighted its Safety Trekr AI tool as one example of how technology could support safety professionals.
The system provides access to more than 70 ANSI and ASSP standards and the ASSP Safety Professionals Handbook through desktop and mobile devices.
According to ASSP, the tool uses a closed artificial intelligence model based only on these resources.
It can generate materials including checklists and multilingual safety information, as well as quizzes covering subjects such as confined space rescue and lockout tagout procedures.
The technology is intended to help safety professionals provide accessible information and reinforce learning closer to the point where tasks are undertaken.
