Customised learning for contractor safety

The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is changing its safety approach to set contractors up for success with the support of Area9 Lyceum’s Rhapsode.

ARTC has recently launched a new personalised Contractor Safety Management (CSM) Program committed to the safety of its workforce and contractors, with the support of Area9 Lyceum’s e-learning platform Rhapsode.

The company’s new approach to contractor safety comes as part of its long-standing commitment to safety and the communities it works in.

James Kennedy, ARTC’s Program Manager for the CSM Program has a career spanning more than 25 years in the construction industry and knows first-hand the imperative of safety on the job site.

“We want people to go home safely, and we endeavour to embed an emotional attachment to safety across our workforce rather than take an impersonal compliance-based approach,” says Kennedy.

“Everyone has a story that relates to safety – it might be about an injury at home, it might be about a friend or an associate that’s been injured at work, or someone who’s had a serious incident and their family is still dealing with the fallout.

“By sharing and reflecting on real-life stories, we link the emotional response to driving the right behaviours in workplace safety.”

After identifying a gap in contractor safety, ARTC recognised the CSM Program needed to produce a behavioural shift for its employees, as well as equip them with the knowledge, skills and tools to set contractors up for success.

“As a company that embraces technology to drive learning outcomes, ARTC jumped at the opportunity to improve safety by again leveraging technology,” Kennedy says.

Renee Andary, Head of Capability at ARTC, says the company’s passion for technology and innovation was recently recognised when it was awarded Best Use of Gamification/ Simulation for Learning and nominated for Best Blended Learning Solution at the 2022 Australian Institute of Training and Development Awards.

“On the back of the success of our awardwinning Non-Technical Skills program, the opportunity to further innovate in the design of this safety critical program led us to partner with cloud-based adaptive-learning software provider Area9 Lyceum in 2021,” says Andary. Built on 25 years of cognitive research, Area9 Lyceum’s four-dimensional learning platform Area9 Rhapsode stood out to ARTC for its adaptive, personalised e-learning capabilities. “Rather than typical e-learning which