The safety training is the solution?

"Training To The Rescue ... Again!"

When a dangerous behavior or action is observed, or if there is an accident, a common response is to re-educate the people involved. The underlying assumption is that the error or the behavioral choice was made because of a lack of awareness or education. It 's my experience that this is often not the case. Starting today, we will introduce ANSI Z490.1 - 2009 and dissect the process of safety training to see how we can make it more effective.

Recently, I was talking with a security professional who is a friend of mine. He had been to a conference and I heard a speaker on the "power to create a positive work environment." Now, my friend understands that honey tastes better than vinegar, but he questioned what he heard. As an experienced coach, knows how to use positive methods to involve employees and encourage participation. He's good with stories, humor, games and other techniques involved. He also understands that the use of discipline in the educational process can be positive.

Image provides the answer

During the presentation, the speaker discussed various situations and provided tips to intervene and correct unsafe behavior. Twice a prescriptive corrective action was to re-train people involved. Since we both experienced and opinionated, my friend came over the speaker to present a situation and ask a question. He began, "When I am conducting a review on a site I used to bring a camera to document my findings and, sometimes, to catch workers who do stupid things. Several times I took pictures of workers standing on the top step of a step ladder. When I went to them to show the photo on my digital camera, how many times do you think they told me they did not know or had not been trained on the scale? The answer is not NEVER! "

It really Consequence

The point here is obvious. Sometimes the training and retraining are not the answer. In situations such as the worker on the scale is better to think in terms of consequences. It 's human nature to ignore the negative consequences. We are invincible and do not get hurt. What is the self-talk, that's going on here? "If you get off and go get the higher scale will take a lot of time. I've done it before and nothing happened." Do not stop taking the higher scale has become a habit, because taking the easy way out and get the job done faster have provided only positive consequences.

The next time you see a worker involved in risky behavior to ask questions "And 'this the way you were trained, and you know better?" When they say "yes and yes" it is time to discipline. It 's much better for the worker to feel the bite of the disciplinary process than learning the hard way to fall and get hurt. Then, while you're there, discipline the supervisor and managers who have ignored the risky behavior. Their lack of intervention and enforcement has created a culture where standing on the top rung of the ladder is acceptable. It takes two to tango! ......