Introduction

I don't think you need convincing about the importance of training employees on safe work procedures. You wouldn't be taking this course unless you appreciated instruction and training. In this module we will be covering your safety instruction and training responsibilities, the safety topics that need to be trained, and the best way to train them. The primary goal of safety education is to shape attitudes. Why? Well, a very important relationship exists among education, attitudes, and behavior. Safety instruction affects attitudes. Attitudes, in turn, shape behaviors.

Formal safety instruction and training are important in improving an employee's ability to work safely. Instruction is important because it gives a person knowledge about safety and why it is necessary. Safety instruction does this by emphasizing the natural and system consequences of personal behaviors, actions, or activities. Safety educators call this, "tying safety training to accountability." What are the natural and system consequences we're talking about?

• Natural consequences explain how employees will physically suffer if they fail to comply with safe behaviors. "If you don't use the harness...you'll probably be killed if you fall."

• System consequences explain how employee behaviors will result in discipline and recognition/reward for their behaviors. "If you fail to use the harness you'll be terminated from employment. If you consistently use the harness you will be recognized and rewarded."

Ferdinand F. Fournies states in his book, Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To Do, that the number one reason employees do not perform to expected standards is that they don't know why they should do them. The second most common reason is that employees do not know how to do the task correctly. Education and training, when applied together, strike at both of these causes for substandard performance.

From the start we want to promote the idea to all employers that to best ensure safety education and training is given to all workers, supervisors should be assigned safety training responsibilities. And, because we all behave primarily as a result of consequences, training without accountability is always ineffective.

Here's why: Any educator, instructor, or trainer will tell you that every time they present a session, they learn more and gain greater understanding of the subject.

As a supervisor trains, he or she gains greater insight and expertise on the procedure or process they are training. Consequently, they are better qualified to supervise for safety and more confidently manage accountability. Workers will more likely perceive their supervisors as competent and knowledgeable in safety as well as other operations. "Hey, I can't get away with anything." (Isn't this a perceived consequence that shapes employee behaviors? :-)

As a supervisor, your employer may assign training responsibilities to you. If you train, or delegate the training to another person in your department, it's important to incorporate safety into the training. Initial safety orientation should occur when a new worker is hired, and more specific safety training must take place prior to the worker starting any job that exposes him or her to a safety hazard.

It's important that your company educate new workers about your safety standards and expectations immediately after being hired. Two primary reasons new employees require initial safety orientation are associated with the concepts of common sense and corporate culture.

One mistake a supervisor may make is to assume that a new worker has common sense about workplace safety. Webster's dictionary states that common sense is the "ability to make sound judgments." But, does common sense actually exist? Good question, so let's take a look at what common sense is developed.

Another mistake that a supervisor may make is to assume that the corporate culture (standards and expectations) of a new worker's previous employer is similar to their own. Such may not be the case. A new worker may have been exposed to an entirely different set of expectations and standards at their previous place of employment, and they will bring these standards with them. If you ask a new employee if they know safe work procedures for a given task, they may reply positively, but the reply is based upon the previous company's procedure which may be quite different from the procedures required by your company.

Because a new worker may lack the necessary individual sense to work safely in a particular workplace, it's important to adequately educate and train every new employee before they actually start work. Each employee needs to know why and how to do accomplish a procedure your way from the start.

The answer to that question depends on the nature of the hazards present in your workplace. Let's divide the answer into two categories:

1. General safety concepts and principles that should be taught to everyone in the workplace, and
2. Specific safety subjects unique to your industry or work process taught to affected employees.

General and specific safety topics should be trained before new employees start work.

Demonstration. Workers should demonstrate that they have both the knowledge and ability to perform a task safely before they are allowed to begin work.

Retraining. Any time the supervisor thinks a worker has inadequate knowledge or ability to perform a task safely, that worker should receive retraining.

Certification. Safety training should be certified. This means the worker and the supervisor/trainer should place their signatures on a document that states:

• The nature of the safety training;
• The date of the safety training;
• The supervisor/trainer has answered all questions to the worker's satisfaction;
• The worker has demonstrated adequate safety knowledge; and
• The worker has demonstrated proper safety procedures to the supervisor's/trainer's satisfaction.

Trainer: Demonstrates and Explains Trainee: Observes and Questions

Trainer: Demonstrates and Questions Trainee: Explains and Observes

Trainer: Gives permission, Observes and Questions Trainee: Gets permission, Explains and then Demonstrates

Well, we've covered a lot of ground. Safety education and training is so vitally important, not only to the welfare of each employee, but the long term survival of the organization. Safety professionals would do well to make a strong commitment to make sure a successful safety education and training system is integrated into all corporate functions.