5 ideas to make health and safety training unusual

Let’s be honest – most health and safety training sessions don’t exactly make hearts race. PowerPoint slides and long lectures can leave even the most diligent employee struggling to stay awake. But what if your next session could actually excite people?

From health and safety games that spark friendly competition, to safety quizzes that get teams thinking fast, to creative tools like safety cards and interactive safety games for work, there are countless ways to turn routine training into something memorable.

Let's get down to concrete details! Discover our 5 ideas for making your health and safety training courses more attractive.

1. Reconstruction of an accident at work

Training participants analyse a real (or fictional) accident at work, recreating its course step by step. Based on the available information – photographs, reports, witness statements – they try to determine what led to the incident, looking for organisational, technical and human causes. They then work together to develop corrective and preventive measures that could prevent similar situations in the future.

This exercise develops risk analysis skills, teaches responsibility and shows the importance of safety procedures in everyday work.

2. Safety discussions in teams – Safety Moment cards

Use the health and safety cards with open-ended questions about occupational safety – Safety Moment. Hand out one card to each team of 3-4 people. Then give them 5 minutes to discuss in teams and develop a common position. During this time, participants discuss, exchange experiences and argue their answers.

Finally, summarise the teams' considerations in a forum. Take on the role of a facilitator and ask additional questions to further the discussion. This exercise is not only engaging, but also effectively supports the development of safety awareness and culture within the team.

3. Fake health and safety document – find the mistakes

This exercise involves analysing a previously prepared ‘fake’ health and safety document, in which errors, inaccuracies and non-compliant provisions have been deliberately introduced. This could be an excerpt from a workstation manual, safety procedure or risk assessment form. The participants' task is to identify all the irregularities and discuss why the provisions are incorrect and what consequences they could have in reality.

The exercise develops perceptiveness, knowledge of regulations and the ability to critically analyse health and safety documentation, while also providing an interesting alternative to traditional knowledge tests.

4. Health and safety crosswords

This simple yet engaging activity is a great way to reinforce workplace safety knowledge through play. As part of your health and safety games, participants complete themed crosswords that include clues about emergency procedures, safety signage, personal protective equipment, and ergonomics.

The crosswords can be done individually or in small teams, on paper or in an interactive online format. This light-hearted approach helps employees recall key terms and concepts while encouraging collaboration and a bit of friendly competition - proving that health and safety games can be both educational and enjoyable. Visit our online shop with health and safety games, where you will find a set of health and safety crossword puzzles.

5. Safety Design Thinking Workshop

This is an innovative exercise that combines creative design principles with health and safety practices. Participants work in small teams, using the Design Thinking method to develop new solutions to improve workplace safety. They can design, for example, more effective signage, an ergonomic workstation, a new way of communicating hazards, or an idea for a campaign promoting a culture of safety.

During the workshop, participants go through the stages of empathy, problem definition, idea generation, prototyping and testing, and their projects are discussed and evaluated in a forum. This exercise develops creativity, collaboration and risk awareness, showing that safety can be designed with the same commitment as products or services.

Let's begin!

Why settle for the usual slide-and-talk sessions when you can make workplace safety exciting and memorable? By using health and safety games, lively safety quizzes, and other hands-on approaches, you can turn training into an experience that sparks curiosity, teamwork, and real understanding. Engaged employees don’t just learn the rules—they live them.

Take the leap, shake up your training, and inspire your teams to see safety not as a chore, but as a shared mission. After all, creative, interactive training is the key to a safer, smarter workplace—and that’s a win for everyone.