5 Signs Your Safety Training Isn’t Working, and How to Fix It

Let’s be honest, most companies think their safety training is working. You’ve got the materials, you’ve run the sessions, and your team signed the attendance sheet. Done, right?

Not always.

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, safety training just doesn’t stick. When training misses the mark, it shows up in different ways. Employees might keep making the same mistakes. Incidents keep happening. Or new hires feel lost even after onboarding. It’s not always a reflection of effort; it’s often a sign that the method needs adjusting.

The good news? You can usually spot these signs before something serious happens, and fix the gaps before they grow. In this post, we’ll go over five clear signs your safety training isn’t working and share simple, practical ways to get things back on track.

Let’s dive in.

1. Your Team Keeps Making the Same Mistakes

One of the clearest red flags is repetition. If your employees are still breaking the same rules or getting into the same kinds of incidents, something’s off. Maybe they’re not absorbing the information. Maybe they don’t understand why it matters. Or maybe the training wasn’t practical enough to apply on the job.

For example, if workers continue to ignore PPE requirements, it’s not always about laziness. Often, they were never trained on when or how to use specific gear in real-life scenarios.

So what’s the fix?

• Simplify the message. Don’t just list rules, explain the context.
• Get hands-on. Let your team try out equipment, walk through emergency procedures, or act out scenarios.
• Follow up. A quick quiz or small group discussion can reveal who’s still confused and who’s confident.

If you’re not sure where to begin, it might help to get an outside perspective. A company like LegacyMark OSHA Safety Consulting can review your current program and identify the gaps. LegacyMark offers expert guidance on building or improving safety training that aligns with OSHA standards and real-world risks. Their consultants understand industry-specific challenges and help customize solutions that actually work, not just on paper.

2. Safety Incidents Are Still Happening

If your workplace is still dealing with injuries or close calls, training might not be doing its job. And no, this doesn’t just mean catastrophic accidents. Frequent minor incidents or near-misses also point to training that isn’t connecting with your team.

Sometimes the issue is relevance. Your team might have watched a generic safety video, but does that really help someone operating a boom lift or handling corrosive chemicals?

To fix this, tailor the content.

• Use examples that reflect your actual work environment.
• Update training materials based on recent incidents.
• Involve employees when reviewing procedures, ask what feels unclear or unrealistic.

When training reflects day-to-day tasks, people take it more seriously. And you’re more likely to spot small risks before they lead to big problems.

3. Nobody Takes Training Seriously

You can usually tell when training isn’t landing. People stare at their phones. They nod along but don’t ask questions. Some rush through e-learning modules with zero retention.

This happens a lot when training feels like a formality. If the content is outdated, overly technical, or clearly recycled, employees check out.

So how do you change that?

• Break it up. Avoid marathon sessions. Shorter, focused modules help people stay engaged.
• Make it interactive. Ask questions, use real examples, or introduce group discussions.
• Show leadership buy-in. When supervisors treat training as essential (not optional) others follow suit.

Also, don’t rely solely on compliance-based language. People want to know how safety affects them, not just what OSHA says. Make it real, relatable, and worth their time.

4. New Hires Are Confused or Overwhelmed

If your new employees seem unsure about basic procedures, it’s time to rethink your onboarding approach. Safety should be one of the first things they learn, but not all at once.

Dumping a 50-page manual and a two-hour video on day one doesn’t work. Most people will forget half of it by the next morning.

Instead:

• Break safety training into smaller chunks across their first few weeks.
• Assign mentors or experienced teammates to guide them.
• Create checklists or cheat sheets for critical tasks, and make them easy to review on the go.

Also, check in with new hires after 30 days. Ask them what still feels confusing. Their feedback is gold. If they still don’t know what to do in basic scenarios, your program needs adjusting.

5. Your Team Doesn’t Know What to Do in Emergencies

This one’s big. In an emergency, your team needs to act fast, without panic or second-guessing. If they freeze, scatter, or ask, “What now?”, that means the training didn’t sink in.

Too many companies skip real drills. Or they hold one drill a year that no one takes seriously. When the real thing happens, chaos follows.

Here’s what helps:

• Run drills regularly, not just for fires, but also for chemical spills, severe weather, or equipment malfunctions.
• Rotate roles during drills. Everyone should know the plan, not just the supervisor.
• After each drill, gather feedback. What worked? What needs tweaking?

Make sure training includes simple, step-by-step instructions for emergencies. And review them often. Safety isn’t just about daily habits; it’s also about staying calm when it counts.

Mistakes in safety training don’t always show up right away. But over time, patterns emerge. Maybe it’s the same minor injury happening over and over. Maybe it’s the glazed-over eyes during training day. Or maybe it’s that new hire who never speaks up, because they still don’t get it.

The good news? You don’t need to throw everything out and start over. Small changes (like better feedback loops, more relevant examples, or third-party support) can make a big difference.

In the end, safety training isn’t just about checking boxes. It’s about giving your team the tools they need to stay safe and the confidence to use them every single day. Keep it clear, make it practical, and update it often. When training works, everyone feels it. And when it doesn’t, you’ll know it.

Now’s a good time to take a second look.

Written by Billy Guteng. September 9, 2025

Billy is a content writer for Kukun. He was born in France, and has lived in multiple cities around the world ever since. He loves art, design and architecture as well as construction and real estate.