Occupational Health & Safety Training: From Theory to Practice
Global Academic Network (GAN)
8 countries | 15 Educational Institutions | +75,000 students | +50,000 graduates
Visual representation of some academic institutions in the network
Sabentis Plus+
More than 500 accredited programs in OSH
🟦🟪⬛ Sabentis Plus + is our native e-learning platform (corporate campus) to train your team with your own/customized content, multi-device access and tracking with metrics and reports to measure results and ensure traceability .
Sabentis: OSH training supported by the international academic network (GAN)
The Global Academic Network (GAN) brings together a network of institutions committed to rigorous, accredited training geared towards real impact in organizations:
- 8 countries
- 15 Higher education institutions
- +75,000 students globally
- +50,000 graduates
In this context today, we have the privilege of interviewing one of its leading figures: Dr. Gustavo Niklander Ribera .
Summary in 30 seconds
- Training only has an impact when it is integrated into work; learning and execution must coexist as a single process ( “merged work and learning” ), not as separate activities.
- Commitment is not asked for, it is designed : enabling time, resources and routines that facilitate applying what has been learned without friction with daily work.
- Upskilling works best when it is part of the job, through short, frequent practice sessions directly on the job.
- Leadership makes a difference when it turns training into a regular way of working, observed and reinforced on a daily basis, and not just a one-off action.
- Without digital tools and real-time data , there is no effective governance: only when we measure deployment and early signals does training become consolidated.
How to integrate training into the workplace?
Gustavo Niklander:
From my experience in academia and, above all, in a permanent link with companies , we have identified very consistent patterns that explain when training is transformed into real practice.
At the university, we don’t see education as an end in itself, but as a means to improve performance and employability . This perspective is built and validated daily: through joint projects with organizations, the continuous feedback we receive from both employers and students, and also in spaces like our Employability Forum , where real market expectations converge with the skills we are developing.
Why the dialogue around training matters
This ongoing dialogue is especially valuable because it allows us to adjust, validate, and, above all, design targeted training : training designed to be applied in the field, implemented under real-world conditions, and generate visible improvements in practice. This idea aligns with the value of continuous training as a key tool .
Today, there is also a great opportunity: to stop thinking of training as an event separate from work and start designing it as part of the operating system of organizations. We facilitate this through the Sabentis Training module .
McKinsey describes it as a world where work and learning merge :
(“merged work and learning”)
They suggest that the role of learning can evolve into something more powerful: becoming architects of work design , influencing roles, workflows, and routines so that execution reinforces skills development. They even propose shifting the focus from “course completion” to more dynamic, real-time metrics within the workflow to see if skills are truly being deployed.
Furthermore, when we talk about adoption, the most important lever is usually the most concrete: time .
Upskilling
Barriers and conditions to learning
Many people want to develop professionally, but face very human barriers ( time and cost ). That’s why it makes so much sense for companies to enable on-the-job learning , adjusting schedules, facilitating access, and eliminating friction so that training can happen without “competing” with real life.
Another crucial driver of training is leadership . Effective leadership is a cornerstone of fostering a safety culture in the workplace .
In our experience, when leaders model the behaviors they expect to see, the likelihood of successful large-scale change increases significantly. In other words, training is taken seriously and implemented when the organization makes it its operating standard , not just “another activity.”
For this to be the case, there are 5 conditions that must always be taken into account:
- Having a context ready to execute: That is, having: resources, current procedures, critical controls.
- Ensure short and frequent practice: ideally, this should be developed in the same job position through micro-habits.
- Develop a system of brief and regular feedback with the supervisor.
- Having digital tools available: that allow easy access, generate evidence and create reports much faster.
- Track progress with data, ideally using an alarm system with early warnings and short improvement cycles.
From compliance to real learning
When these conditions exist, training stops “staying in the classroom” and becomes a real continuous improvement mechanism that allows the team’s capabilities to be raised and also reinforces the preventive culture .
Therefore, at GAN , beyond asking ourselves “how many hours are we training?”, what we are really interested in knowing is: What conditions are we designing together with the organizations so that what has been learned can be implemented tomorrow, on the work shift, and with the real pressure that our students face?
Written interviews Sabentis 2026
Dr. Gustavo Niklander Ribera
Director of Corporate Development — Autonomous University of Chile
Member of the Global Academic Network (GAN)
With more than a decade leading institutional development, university outreach and management, Dr. Niklander has specialized in a key challenge: turning training into applied capacity , aligning academia and business to improve performance and employability.
This perspective—focused on standards, evidence, and digital transformation—drives the alliance we developed at Sabentis with the Universidad Autónoma de Chile and the GAN network: to raise the standard of OSH training through the accreditation and certification of a catalog of more than 500 programs within Sabentis Plus+ , our e-learning campus natively integrated into Sabentis, to ensure 360° coverage of the OSH ecosystem in organizations.
Furthermore, as a milestone of this collaboration, we co-designed the first international MBA in OSH , with academic stays in the USA, Chile and Colombia , focused on what makes a difference today: digitization, analytics and practical use of AI to automate tasks and accelerate decision-making.
How can we increase commitment?
Commitment is not “asked for” ; it is designed.
And in OSH that translates into something very concrete: that applying what has been learned is the easiest, most logical and usual option , and not a good intention that competes with pressure, time and lack of resources.
How the commitment to OSH comes about
When a system is well-designed, commitment emerges as a consequence. There is a ready-to-use context (current procedures, critical controls, and available tools), learning occurs within the workflow through short, frequent micro-practices, supervision observes and reinforces with brief, regular feedback, and data enables improvement to be driven by early signals and short cycles, not by bureaucracy.
Ultimately, people commit when they see meaning (it protects me and my team today), feasibility (I can do it without friction), and consistency (this is an operating standard, not an additional activity).
If we want more commitment, we don’t need more speeches: we need better-designed work so that safe practice becomes the natural choice.
Occupational health and safety software and workplace risk prevention
SMEs and large companies: two contexts
Ultimately, the principles remain the same: as we’ve already discussed, training is effective when it’s designed to complement real-world work. What does differ between an SME and a large corporation are the system’s conditions—and, therefore, the most effective levers for achieving adoption.
In an SME , there’s usually a huge advantage: proximity . Management is closer to the team, decisions are made quickly, and it’s easier to establish good habits because everyone sees each other and receives real-time feedback. The challenge, on the other hand, is the most human: time and resources . That’s why highly practical, short, and focused training works best in SMEs , centered on critical controls and two or three micro-practices that are repeated weekly on the job. Less “program” and more “routine”: a simple guideline, easily verifiable evidence, and immediate feedback.
In large companies: structure and scale
In a large company , almost the opposite is true: there are usually more resources, specialists, and structure, but the biggest enemy is complexity . Different shifts, locations, contractors, middle management… and there, training risks becoming merely an “activity” if it doesn’t become an operational standard . The key, then, is governance : integrating training into formal processes, roles, and routines (induction, on-site leadership, planned observations, operational meetings), and measuring not only “attendance” but actual implementation : Is it being applied? How often? Where are the gaps? What early warning signs are appearing?
To sum it up:
- SMEs: win through agility and proximity; they need focus, simplicity and viable micro-habits.
- Large company: wins by resources; needs standardization, consistent leadership and data to govern at scale.
And in both cases, the important thing is not to confuse training with transformation: OSH training changes performance when the job is designed so that doing the right thing is the easiest and most common thing within the shift.
FAQ | OSH training: from theory to practice
1) What is the most common mistake that prevents OSH training from being applied?
Treat it as an isolated event and not as part of the daily work.
2) How do I know if the training is having a real impact?
When it is seen in on-the-ground behaviors and improves operational indicators, not just attendance or grades.
3) What role does the supervisor play in the adoption of the training?
Turn what you’ve learned into a routine: observe, correct, and reinforce in the moment.
4) What type of content is implemented fastest in OSH?
Those that are linked to critical controls and are practiced in simple and repeatable micro-actions.
5) What does a digital platform contribute to OSH training?
It provides evidence, tracking, and metrics to govern execution with data.
