Beyond Translation: Designing EHS Training That Truly Connects

This November, Hanson Wade will bring together the biopharma EHS community at the first EHS for Biopharma Summit Europe (18th–20th November 2025). As a proud summit partner, Modig is excited to be joining the conversations that challenge how we think, lead, and design for safer, stronger organisations. 

This is the third article in our series exploring the summit’s key themes and the ideas we’ll be bringing with us to Frankfurt. 

We are particularly looking forward to the roundtable on Adapting Training Across Generations, Languages, and Learning Styles, led by AndrewKing from AstraZeneca. Training and coaching are core to what we do at Modig, and we know that for learning to work, it must connect. Training should never be a box-ticking exercise, it should create behaviour change. 

Moving Beyond the Generic 

Whether you’re onboarding a Gen Z engineer in Germany, retraining an experienced operator in Malta, or rolling out updates across multiple languages the challenges are real. What resonates in one region or generation can fall flat in another because people learn and engage in very different ways.  

• Visual learners thrive with interactive simulations. 
• Hands-on learners may prefer demos and walkthroughs. 
• Some teams may be fluent in English, but not in technical jargon. 
• Others operate within cultural norms that shape how they learn and communicate. 

The stakes are high. Poorly translated, irrelevant, or inaccessible training isn’t just ineffective, it can be dangerous!

The Case for Inclusive, Adaptive EHS Training 

 Great training builds trust, strengthens culture, and reinforces the behaviours that keep people safe. But to do that, training must be inclusive by design, not by accident.  

We believe EHS training should reflect the diversity of the teams it’s meant to serve.  

That means: 

• Designing for multiple learning styles from the outset. 
• Localising content, not just translating it. 
• Ensuring visuals, tone, and examples are culturally relevant. 
• Involving local voices early, so training feels personal, not parachuted in. 
• Leveraging technology to enhance human connection, not replace it. 
• Balancing bite size modules with deeper learning sessions.  
• Mixing discussion, teamwork, storytelling, and hands-on experience to embed key concepts. 

It’s also about adaptability. Great trainers read the room, adjust their tone, pace the content, and deliver in real time to keep people engaged and supported. 

Turning Training into Behaviour Change 

The best training doesn’t end when the session does. Instead, the real test comes after, when we ask;  

• Are the practices covered in training being used? 
• Did the format support long term learning? 
• What needs reinforcing? 

Follow-ups help close the loop between content and impact, ensuring training is not only understood but lived.  

Tailored Training Starts Before the Session  

Effective training begins long before delivery. It starts with understanding who it is for, their roles, context, and challenges. Whether someone is delivering content across borders or to cross functional teams, clarity and context are everything. 

At Modig, we have learned that even a small amount of context makes a big difference. Knowing team roles, site challenges, language preferences, or recent changes helps us tailor tone, examples, and pacing. The result: training that not only makes senses but truly resonates.  

Some of the principles we focus on include: 

• Simplifying language without losing technical accuracy. 
• Using visuals and real world scenarios that explain, not just describe. 
• Avoiding abbreviations, or phrasing that doesn’t translate well. 
• Involving local cultural and language champions to check for tone and cultural fit. 
• Encouraging participation, interactivity, feedback, and reflection.   

The goal? To move from mass delivery to meaningful delivery. Training should feel personal, not generic even at scale.  

Language Is More Than Words 

At Modig, we’re continually innovating how we manage training and instructions for teams who speak different linguistic and cultural languages. Because communication goes beyond translation — it’s about connection. 

We work with cultural champions and local SMEs to ensure training resonates with the people it’s meant to serve. These champions help identify cultural nuances that influence learning styles and engagement — from how feedback is received to how questions are asked. 

We also encourage open dialogue during training, creating space to pause, clarify, and ask the simple but powerful question: “Does this make sense to you, in your context?” 

This approach helps bridge linguistic and cultural gaps, turning language differences into opportunities for learning rather than barriers to understanding. 

Why This Matters Now 

 As EHS continues to evolve from a compliance function to a driver of operational resilience, training is no longer a back office task. It’s a strategic capability, one that must be flexible, human centred, and data informed. 

Training that works everywhere isn’t about standardisation it’s about adaptation. And that requires empathy, feedback, and the confidence to pivot in real time.  

We’ll be joining this conversation with curiosity.  

Will you be in Frankfurt this November? If so, we would love to connect. 

 

Next in our series: 

Beyond “Safety First”: Why Safety Isn’t the Goal it’s the Enabler