Sectors like the oil and gas industry, as well as any industry where employees are around potentially dangerous equipment or substances, know that safety is paramount. 

Any accidents involving employees can have wide-reaching effects – not only on any injured staff and their families, but also the company’s assets, legality, and reputation. That’s why safety training for employees is absolutely vital. 

If you’re still considering whether to hire a safety training video production company, and what kind of safety training video might be right for you, let’s take a look at what’s available and why this could be the most effective training tool for your company.

Safety training videos for oil and gas

Few safety training assets have anywhere near the level of impact that safety training videos do, which is why safety videos for oil and gas companies are a common tool for avoiding accidents. Any accidents in these sectors could have disastrous consequences, so it’s vital that all employees take in all the safety information in the most effective way possible.

But what makes safety induction videos such incredible resources? There are various reasons for this, so let’s break some of them down.

Safety training videos and learning styles

Academics have identified four different ‘learning styles’ which differ from person to person. While everyone can benefit from all of these different styles of learning, some people will lean more towards one style than the rest. 

The first is visual learning. This means learners are better able to understand and remember things they’re taught in visual form. While this can be pictures and diagrams, it also includes moving images (such as video). Safety videos are obviously a win for this group, helping them to take in and retain important information more easily. 

The second learning style is aural learning. This type of learner responds better to audio forms of information than any other. While this can mean a lecture or audio-only piece of instruction can be effective, a safety video with clear and informative audio will also do the trick.

The third group of learners respond best to reading the information available. Of course you should have written material that employees can refer to at all times, but you can also include text within a video as well.

Even the fourth group, kinesthetic learners, can take something valuable from a safety training video. These people learn by ‘doing’ and ‘hands-on’ activity. While there will undoubtedly be much of this as part of general employee safety training, it can also help to show video footage of other people doing tasks to appeal to this kind of learning style.

So as you can see, a safety training video is really the complete package for everyone, no matter which of the four groups your staff fit into.

Different styles of safety training videos

Safety training videos can come in many different styles, and can also switch between styles to keep them interesting. If you have a lot of important information to convey, you can choose from a variety of visual options to make sure each topic is covered in the most effective way possible.

1. Animated safety training videos

For example, an oil and gas industry safety animation video can turn the complex and potentially daunting elements of a dangerous environment into a fun and memorable video. Animated videos might be 2D or 3D, depending on the complexity of what you’re presenting and your style preference. They can also focus on the key elements, without having to film at a location where there’s a lot of other distractions in shot. 

Not only does this keep your site safer and more secure during the video making process – with no camera crews necessarily needed at the scene – but it also means you can show only what is specifically needed in the video rather than capturing anything irrelevant in the process. 

The added bonus of an animated video is, of course, that it’s fun to look at and therefore more memorable. You can play around creatively with what’s shown on screen, and you have much more control over how you present the information visually. For example, you can present working parts of your site from different angles without having to manage camera equipment in sensitive areas. You can also depict things that can’t easily be seen in real life, such as anything underground and out of view from a camera. 

2. Dramatized safety training videos

If you want to make sure people understand exactly what a potentially dangerous situation looks like, without risking anyone’s safety in the process, a dramatized safety training video could be your greatest asset. 

This kind of video uses actors to play the part of people who could be involved in an incident, and has them act out the wrong and right steps to manage the situation. This can be used to re-enact real life incidents without the need to put any real employees who were involved into an uncomfortable situation. It can also use the skills of professional actors to portray natural looking parts which make a scene feel more real than if you were to use real employees who are not used to acting for the camera.

These kinds of videos use realism without being real, to make a situation look and feel like one that your employees could find themselves in while doing their jobs. This means that when the time comes to act on what they’ve learned, they’re better able to picture exactly the dos and don’ts of any situation they’ve seen portrayed in a realistic way on screen in the past.

3. Graphics, infographics and diagrams

If you have a lot of text and data heavy information to convey, a safety training video can do that job in a much more engaging way than presenting that information on a page. Text, graphics and diagrams can be animated and presented in such a way that they become more memorable and easier to grasp than if they were in print. 

You can use your existing training print materials and turn them into a safety training video to ensure they have even more chance of staying put in your employees’ minds.

4. Documentary safety training videos

Sometimes there’s no better way to show your employees proper safety procedures without demonstrating them in real life. Your safety training video can be created entirely from real on-site footage, or it can include this kind of footage as part of a varied format. 

A trusted and safety-conscious video production team can capture the real workings of your business, with appropriate supervision from staff on-site, meaning you get to show real footage of what you do. This is incredibly valuable if you need to present information and situations exactly as they really are. You can capture the day-to-day smooth running of your business, with everything going smoothly, so that new employees know exactly what to expect on the job.

You can use this kind of video as a first introduction to your company for new employees, so their first sight of your operations isn’t when they arrive on-site but in the training room. This means you don’t have to do quite as much orientation in real life, and can focus entirely on safety before they even set foot into a potentially dangerous environment. 

In conclusion

As you can see, safety training videos are themselves a fantastic asset to add to your safety training portfolio. Not only do they appeal to a lot of different learning styles, but they also offer so much flexibility. You can completely customise your safety training video to your sector and company, whether you’re in the oil and gas industry or any other business in which safety needs to be taken very seriously. 

If you’re considering getting a safety training video made, but don’t know where to start, Studio 52 can help. We can listen to your needs and formulate a production plan from scratch, including ideation, scripting, storyboarding, filming, audio, animation and post-production. All we need from you is the insight and knowledge you have about your business, and the information your employees need to stay safe on the job. 

The process is streamlined and simple, taking as little of your time as possible. We’re adept and experienced at safety video production, and our safety-conscious production team have filmed in multiple hazardous environments to create effective and attractive videos for our clients. 

So if you’re considering beginning the production process with us, just get in touch for a no obligation chat and we’ll discuss how we can help.