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Published 4 Jul 2025

Article by

SafetyCulture Content Team

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3 min read

What is a One Point Lesson Template?

A One Point Lesson (OPL) template is a training tool used in various industries, such as manufacturing, to teach employees a single point, theme, concept, or idea. It typically contains two pictures, one featuring a bad example or practice and the other featuring a good example or practice. Under these two pictures is a short text description about the one point lesson.

Who Can Create One Point Lessons?

Anyone in the organization can create one point lessons, as long as they have experience in the subject of the lesson and are prepared to share correct and accurate information on the topic. Managers can also use the one point lesson as an opportunity to observe and perform the tasks causing issues or needing improvement. Even newly-hired employees should be able to create one point lessons since they may have a fresh perspective on the operations of the organization or facility and can significantly improve current processes using new ideas and concepts.

What to Include in a One Point Lesson Template

Since one point lessons are supposed to be straightforward, the ready-to-use templates should also reflect this by being succint and easy to follow. A point lesson template typically includes the following:

  • Organization

  • Site/facility

  • Date of preparation and date of revision (if any)

  • Document number

  • Revision number (if any)

  • Area

  • Line

  • Theme

  • Objective

  • Type (choose which one)

    • Safety

    • Basic knowledge

    • Improvement Case

    • Troubleshooting

  • Bad example – image

  • Good example – image

  • Description

  • Approval

  • Training ratio (choose which one)

    • 1-on-1 training

    • Multiple trainees

How Do You Write a One Point Lesson?

Write a one point lesson by doing the following:

  1. Use a one point lesson template. Why use a template? Other employees can use the same template for future one point lessons. By promoting the use of this template in your organization, you’re also standardizing the structure and process of making OPLs.

  2. Specify which area of the facility and which production line the one point lesson will apply to, unless the OPL is intended to apply to all areas and/or all production lines.

  3. Note the program that the one point lesson is a part of (the general theme) and the subcategory it’s in (the specific objective). This will help you organize your OPLs.

  4. Choose from the one point lesson types—safety, basic knowledge, improvement case, and troubleshooting. You can select more than one.

  5. Take and attach a photo of a bad example and of a good example. Depending on the content of your one point lesson, it can be a picture of equipment or a visual diagram.

  6. Write a text description that’s simple and easy-to-understand. It should summarize the two photos above and should only be one paragraph.

  7. Ask your department head or manager to review and approve the one point lesson. Include their signature and the date it was signed in the OPL.

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SafetyCulture Content Team

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OPL in Procedural Checklists

How to add a one point lesson to other checklists in SafetyCulture:

  1. Download any checklist for free from the Public Library

  2. In the Template Editor, select the question that’s most related to the one point lesson

  3. On the left, select the ‘+’ sign with the word ‘Question’ under it

  4. Select the type of response beside the new question field (on the right)

  5. Change the type of response to the ‘Instruction’ response type

  6. In the question field, type in “One Point Lesson – Bad Example”

  7. Select the word ‘Upload image’ below the question field

  8. Upload an image of the bad example or practice

  9. Repeat steps 3-8 for the good example or practice

  10. Share the checklist with employees and they’ll be reminded of the one point lesson whenever they perform the procedure using the checklist

View template in library

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Simple OPL Using Heads Up

Creating a Heads Up for the one point lesson:

  1. If you’ve just downloaded a SafetyCulture checklist or template, select ‘Back to list’ on the upper left corner

  2. On the leftmost column, select ‘Heads Up’ from the list of SafetyCulture features

  3. Select the ‘+ Create Heads Up’ button on the upper right corner

  4. After completing the quick tutorial, you can add the photos of the bad example and good example by selecting ‘+ Add media’ at the top

  5. Type in “One Point Lesson” or whatever you think is appropriate as the Title

  6. Type in a short description summarizing the one point lesson as the Description

  7. Select ‘Choose people’ under ‘Assign to’ and assign the Heads Up to another SafetyCulture user, a group of users, or to yourself

  8. You can also choose to share the Heads Up externally to people without SafetyCulture accounts by selecting ‘Create link’ on the lower right of the People section (it’s also on the right of ‘Share externally’)

  9. Select the ‘Copy link’ button and share the link with the relevant personnel after publishing or saving the Heads Up

  10. Select the ‘Publish’ button or the ‘Save’ button

View template in library
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