20 Feb Explaining Safety in an Enterprise

If we think about the job of safety officers, safety managers and anyone else trying to train workers in an element of Safety, at HBA we believe something could deliver a safer workplace and that is ensuring the audience, whether 1 or 101, understands what has been imparted.

There are 3 unwritten rules of Assessment:

1. Never design training that cannot be assessed.
2. Never assess something you are not an expert in
3. Validate, Validate, Validate

If you consider your past experiences, perhaps you told a worker how they must walk between the marked lines in the warehouse as they were been seen wandering close to where a forklift travels, ask yourself this, “did I follow the above assessment ideas?

So, what do these 3 rules mean?

1. If you teach something, then identify how you are going to ensure the worker has understood what you have said.
2. If you are a casual observer and want to ensure an operator does not repeat what you observed but you have no Safety Experience or Qualification, then call in the Safety Officer.
3. Talk to an experienced colleague to ensure you have the best way to assess what you have taught.

In the words of a great American “motivational speaker” when asked how he had such good results from his audience he replied, “First I tell them what I am going to tell them, then I tell them, then I tell them what I have told them”.

Whatever you do please ensure your workers understand what Safety Best Practice is in the workplace. There is no better way of providing a Safer workplace than having WHS/OHS qualified people on site, they understand the relevant legislation, SOP’s, rights of the worker and have the welfare of all workers as their number 1 priority; nothing is more important than this!