An analysis of occupational health and safety training in the context of adult learning theories: A qualitative case study

As a result of ocuupational accidents around the world, thousands of human resources lose their lives every year and lose their working power. Businesses aiming at sustainability and competitive advantage provide Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) training to protect their human resources from work-related risks. However, when the statistics are examined, it is seen that the number of occupational accidents has increased despite the OHS trainings. In this context, the basic assumption of this study is; that OHS training is unsuccessful due to the increase in the number of occupational accidents despite the training. It is assumed that this failure is since OHS training is given to adults but not prepared and applied in the androgogyk formation.In this context, the main purpose of the study is; it is to evaluate the OHS trainings given in Turkey in the context of adult learning theories in order to minimize the number of occupational accidents and to produce solutions. In this direction, it is discussed in the study that an OHS training shaped according to adult learning theories can be a successful alternative to prevent occupational accidents. Since the study is of an exploratory nature, the qualitative method was preferred. First of all, the basic assumption of the study was verified by statistical analyzes on the data obtained from the occupational accident reports, and the study was tried to be placed on a solid basis. Then, in order to solve the main problem of the study, data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with 12 occupational safety experts and 10 human resources managers, who were reached by snowball sampling in qualitative case design. Findings were obtained with the directed qualitative content analysis of the data. While the results were visualized with MAXQDA, a qualitative data analysis program, the researcher's analyzed were verified.As a result of the analyzes made; the findings related to the themes of learner profile, learning approach and learning technique were reached. As a result of the study, it was determined that the participants in the OHS training were adults, but the training approaches and techniques were not suitable for adults. It has been concluded that OHS training, which is generally designed in the context of adult learning theories, will be a successful alternative to reducing the number of occupational accidents. The study is original in two respects. First of all, examining OHS training in the context of adult learning theories has not been the subject of any study before. Secondly, while the OHS training studies in the literature are related to the results of the training and participant satisfaction, this study deals with the training itself.