Appointment of safety officers is a mandatory requirement. When cost cutting is the mantra (rule) everywhere particularly when the company is not getting profits, how do a safety department head feels, if the management asks HR to take action for recruitment more personnel for safety department, that too, without any proposal from safety head.
It really shows the commitment of the management and this should motivate to do more. Doing routine inspections is one of the jobs. But, updating one's knowledge and foreseeing the hazards ahead and able to explain and convince the plant personnel is really the challenge for a safety officer. And, imagine if you can delegate routine inspections and is able to get time to study the processes in detail and analyze for hazards, what else is required. Definitely, this will give job satisfaction because your job is different from day-to-day jobs and you are doing special work. It will also make you an expert over a period of time and you can make your company a role model in the industry.
I always feel that the factories rules specifying one safety officer for every 1000 workers or so is insufficient even to do routine inspections for safety unless everybody in the shopfloor is committed to work safely. Otherwise, it will be like, catch me if you can, situation.
After certain age, even health will not permit a person to walk around throughout the day and his effectiveness in implementing safety will diminish.
Apart from safety inspections and pep talks in some companies, safety officer will also look after fire and environment duties, procure personal protective equipment, buy instruments, coordinate with different agencies like local authorities, factories department, pollution control board, explosives department, etc which will be taxing as he has to go their offices which can be far off and such works will reduce his attention on safety implementation.
I feel that there should be separate department for each of safety, environment, fire and welfare activities. And, one safety supervisor/officer should be available for every 10,000 square meters of shopfloor area or 250 employees (including contractors), whichever is less.
No person should be allowed to enter shopfloor for any new work without safety briefing and work related training. Retraining should be provided atleast once in a year if the job is same. Class room training away from work area is preferable. Else, they will be called in between the training programme for any of the so called urgent works. Training programme should not pack many topics and should have one or two topics per day with theory, case studies, videos and evaluation/assessment. Participants too should be given sometime, say 45-60 minutes to speak on their experiences. Audience should be limited to 25-30. More participants means reduced attention from the faculty, less time available for the participants to interact and occasional arguments spoiling the course proceedings.
Showing posts with label safety training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label safety training. Show all posts
Aug 14, 2013
Hazards in the job of trainers?
Recently, I delivered a talk in a safety training programme. After the lecture, I went out of the training hall, and tried to talk to my office for vehicle pickup to my workplace. One of the participants came to me and advised me to remove portable microphone, which was given to me before the talk. My phone conversation was audible in the training hall.
This is a lesson for me. I should have switched off the mic and handed over to the program coordinator. I forgot this. The other side is whatever I utter also will be audible and any loose talk (which may happen) would have put me in shame, if not in trouble.
This is a lesson for me. I should have switched off the mic and handed over to the program coordinator. I forgot this. The other side is whatever I utter also will be audible and any loose talk (which may happen) would have put me in shame, if not in trouble.
Jan 11, 2012
Accidents during training
A navy officer drowned, when the commander asked him to jump into sea, as a part of training. Contradicting reports state about divers in the sea waters before start of exercises. It is stated that the navy officer was not wearing any life jacket at the time of the incident.
Such accidents can occur in any where, if proper precautions are not taken. Statistics on industrial accidents reveal that most of those injured are trainees/apprentices/contractor workers or those who were allotted new jobs different from what they were doing earlier. It is likely that to cut costs, companies engage trainees/apprentices/contractor workers for skilled jobs. In the absence of proper training, lack of knowledge on hazards involved in the operations and hesitation by these persons to ask for information lead to accidents endangering their lives and that of others. The accidents that are reported regularly in the media confirm this practice.
To avoid such accidents, irrespective of the nature of the job and position of the person, compulsory training shall be provided to them and necessary safety instructions in the form safe operating procedures, checklists, data sheets, emergency procedures, etc should be taught and documents are issued for ready reference.
Managements will certainly reap the benefits of such training provided in the form of safe work atmosphere and better productivity.
Such accidents can occur in any where, if proper precautions are not taken. Statistics on industrial accidents reveal that most of those injured are trainees/apprentices/contractor workers or those who were allotted new jobs different from what they were doing earlier. It is likely that to cut costs, companies engage trainees/apprentices/contractor workers for skilled jobs. In the absence of proper training, lack of knowledge on hazards involved in the operations and hesitation by these persons to ask for information lead to accidents endangering their lives and that of others. The accidents that are reported regularly in the media confirm this practice.
To avoid such accidents, irrespective of the nature of the job and position of the person, compulsory training shall be provided to them and necessary safety instructions in the form safe operating procedures, checklists, data sheets, emergency procedures, etc should be taught and documents are issued for ready reference.
Managements will certainly reap the benefits of such training provided in the form of safe work atmosphere and better productivity.
Jan 10, 2012
Role of behavior in accident reduction
I read an article in (India) Industrial Safety Review (June 2011) on the role of behavior in accident reduction. One particular statement in the article is true for all organizations. The statement reads as, "showing zero accidents record and international certifications do not really ensure safe organization unless we target zero unsafe behaviors at workplaces".
In many organizations, their address will also contains about ISO/OHSAS certification. With the mushroom growth of certifying agencies, competition to get business and marketing skills, these certificates appear to be only for name sake. It is not possible for certifying agencies also to check thoroughly for compliance with applicable requirements, as their audits are based on random sampling. Instead of relying on these certificates, many organizations are developing their own systems to verify the credentials of the company with which they intend to deal with by site visits, field inspections, data collection, interaction with teams of production, quality, safety and health to assess compliance with standards and their own requirements. Certificates also induce a false sense of security/safety among the employees and lead to bad work culture.
In this context, I liked the above statement. Though every organization targets zero accident status, as the author said correctly, the approach should be, intolerance to unsafe behaviors rather than aiming to prevent major accidents. It is true that, to have such status coupled with rewards linked to accident-free working periods, the accidents are not reported.
To achieve true zero accident status, the author suggested, i) forming teams, ii) observing the work for some time, iii) not to blame the persons for at-risk behaviors, iv) interacting with the persons to find the cause for behavior, v) getting suggestions/feedback, vi) maintaining list of critical behaviors, vii) implementing measures for correct behavior by way of training, awareness, monitoring and feed back.
It is stated in an article that the returns will be 3-6 times for every dollar spent on training. Safety inspections by safety department are nothing but monitoring/policing. Any unsafe act or condition observed by safety department will be corrected at that time and it will repeat again, the moment safety inspector leaves the workspot. Unless the persons actually performing the work are aware of their risky behavior, and correct themselves, accidents can't be brought down to zero level by safety department alone.
In many organizations, their address will also contains about ISO/OHSAS certification. With the mushroom growth of certifying agencies, competition to get business and marketing skills, these certificates appear to be only for name sake. It is not possible for certifying agencies also to check thoroughly for compliance with applicable requirements, as their audits are based on random sampling. Instead of relying on these certificates, many organizations are developing their own systems to verify the credentials of the company with which they intend to deal with by site visits, field inspections, data collection, interaction with teams of production, quality, safety and health to assess compliance with standards and their own requirements. Certificates also induce a false sense of security/safety among the employees and lead to bad work culture.
In this context, I liked the above statement. Though every organization targets zero accident status, as the author said correctly, the approach should be, intolerance to unsafe behaviors rather than aiming to prevent major accidents. It is true that, to have such status coupled with rewards linked to accident-free working periods, the accidents are not reported.
To achieve true zero accident status, the author suggested, i) forming teams, ii) observing the work for some time, iii) not to blame the persons for at-risk behaviors, iv) interacting with the persons to find the cause for behavior, v) getting suggestions/feedback, vi) maintaining list of critical behaviors, vii) implementing measures for correct behavior by way of training, awareness, monitoring and feed back.
It is stated in an article that the returns will be 3-6 times for every dollar spent on training. Safety inspections by safety department are nothing but monitoring/policing. Any unsafe act or condition observed by safety department will be corrected at that time and it will repeat again, the moment safety inspector leaves the workspot. Unless the persons actually performing the work are aware of their risky behavior, and correct themselves, accidents can't be brought down to zero level by safety department alone.
Sep 28, 2011
Safety and Health training - power point presentation from www.citehr.com
A link to the power point presentation on Safety and Health training that can be used for training. This link was found found from http://www.citehr.com
I think your audience will like it because of simple and straight facts with good illustrations.
http://www.citehr.com/365704-safety-health-training.html
Another one for drivers here, http://www.citehr.com/365239-useful-handbook-drivers.html
http://www.citehr.com/365704-safety-health-training.html
Another one for drivers here, http://www.citehr.com/365239-useful-handbook-drivers.html
Dec 9, 2010
Training and its effectiveness
Training the employees for skills is a major task for any organization. And imparting skills to do the work safely is much more bigger task. Generally, class room safety training provides only basics, do's and dont's, SOPs, etc along with case studies. But, for the person to work safely, on the job training i.e. shopfloor training can be effective rather than class room training. And the person under on-the-job training requires proper guidance and supervision till he understands the implications and is moulded. This type of training may be costly for the managements as the number of persons trained under one instructor will be limited to a few at any given time. If the number of trainees increases, then the amount of time and attention by the instructor on each of the trainee will be reduced.
Though, nobody is interested in getting involved in accidents, still the occurrence of accidents indicate about the lack of knowledge and may be complacency developed over a period of time. With the on-the-job training and subsequently effective supervision can lead to accident-free workplace.
Though, nobody is interested in getting involved in accidents, still the occurrence of accidents indicate about the lack of knowledge and may be complacency developed over a period of time. With the on-the-job training and subsequently effective supervision can lead to accident-free workplace.
Aug 17, 2010
How to make safety training effective?
Today, I read to articles on makeing safety training effective. One is on presentation skills by the trainer to grab the attention of participants (Safety Daily Advisor). The other is use of safety videos. The original link is published separately in this blog.
Attention: It says that attention of the participants is short and therefore the trainer has to be careful in planning his presentations by giving introduction, a video, narration, quiz for evaluation, etc with interaction in between. This is like a typical James Bond movie which I am attracted to because of an action stunt in the beginning, titles with music, then movie.
Videos: Videos are quite effective in understanding any subject. There is a proverb that a picture speaks 100 words. We remember scenes of a movie for a long rather than the dialogues in it unless otherwise it is a punch dialogue. In the article I read, the author mentions that it is difficult to gather employees at one place to train them. Further, what I feel that general training to meet different trades of employees present in a training session will not be effective and we can't be specific to a particular trade of employees when other trades are present. To overcome this, the author rightly said that making availability of safety videos on-demand will be quite effective. If the videos are made available through intranet with monitors provided at workers' change rooms/cabins (rest places) where they take rest for sometime after lunch / tea break, those interested can see the videos of their interest. This viewing can also be done where there is no work and workers got a free time.
I got benfited a lot and my understanding of chemical safety improved when I watched CSB videos. For more details, whenever required, I went through the investigation reports of CSB. In my training sessions for fresh batches, I start with a brief introduction, followed by some principles and then show a video. There is a huge demand from participants for more videos. I give them the website addresses instead of videos as I feel that if we provide videos as such, then the CD/DVD will be lying in the cupboard without using it ever. If they themselves go to the website and watch / download videos, then, I am sure they will go through in length and make them to surf the net for more and more such videos and information.
Recently, in a training session for experienced employees, when I showed a video on impact of a gas cylinder when it valve is broken, many employees, some them on the verge of superannuation told me that for first time they understood why gas cylinder valves should be protected and why gas cylinders should be chained. Even in feedback forms, they mentioned the same. Mind you, I went for the training session to fill a gap of 15 minutes as the lunch was not ready.
Attention: It says that attention of the participants is short and therefore the trainer has to be careful in planning his presentations by giving introduction, a video, narration, quiz for evaluation, etc with interaction in between. This is like a typical James Bond movie which I am attracted to because of an action stunt in the beginning, titles with music, then movie.
Videos: Videos are quite effective in understanding any subject. There is a proverb that a picture speaks 100 words. We remember scenes of a movie for a long rather than the dialogues in it unless otherwise it is a punch dialogue. In the article I read, the author mentions that it is difficult to gather employees at one place to train them. Further, what I feel that general training to meet different trades of employees present in a training session will not be effective and we can't be specific to a particular trade of employees when other trades are present. To overcome this, the author rightly said that making availability of safety videos on-demand will be quite effective. If the videos are made available through intranet with monitors provided at workers' change rooms/cabins (rest places) where they take rest for sometime after lunch / tea break, those interested can see the videos of their interest. This viewing can also be done where there is no work and workers got a free time.
I got benfited a lot and my understanding of chemical safety improved when I watched CSB videos. For more details, whenever required, I went through the investigation reports of CSB. In my training sessions for fresh batches, I start with a brief introduction, followed by some principles and then show a video. There is a huge demand from participants for more videos. I give them the website addresses instead of videos as I feel that if we provide videos as such, then the CD/DVD will be lying in the cupboard without using it ever. If they themselves go to the website and watch / download videos, then, I am sure they will go through in length and make them to surf the net for more and more such videos and information.
Recently, in a training session for experienced employees, when I showed a video on impact of a gas cylinder when it valve is broken, many employees, some them on the verge of superannuation told me that for first time they understood why gas cylinder valves should be protected and why gas cylinders should be chained. Even in feedback forms, they mentioned the same. Mind you, I went for the training session to fill a gap of 15 minutes as the lunch was not ready.
Aug 4, 2010
Workplace accidents - where we are?
I read three articles 1) Why Safety Training is a Good Investment, 2) Safety Training Pays Off Every Minute and 3) Training Adult Learners on importance of safety training for accident reduction. According to these, in US every year there are 4.0 million non-fatal injuries, 1.0 million man-days lost, every day 15 workers die because of workplace injuries / illness. Training the persons makes them to realize, recognize, evaluate and take effective measures for control of workplace accidents and avoid its ill effects / consequences. As pointed out in the 3rd article, to succeed careerwise, people will be learning relevant new issues. However, we have to make them realize that they have to learn safety aspects also. Otherwise, there will be bloodbath at the workplace as no attention is paid for ensuring the workplace safety. Any decision for increase production without safety means somebody will be hurt in the field. The decision maker may not realize that his decision is the reason for the deaths / injuries. Like, some people say 'to give human touch', decision makers have to give 'safety touch' and assess all consequnces arising out of their consequences.
Now-a-days, in western countries, when buying or placing order on a company, organizations conduct audit including quality, environment and safety audit. Similarly, while recruiting executives, these organizations should verify the safety credentials in the previous employment. For first timers, they can assess knowledge on safety systems, applicable legislations, etc or after recruitment, they can impart safety training. It is not sufficient only to see capabilities / past experience in achieving / reaching production targets alone. Assessment is to be done for SAFE PRODUCTION. Otherwise, accidents like at Bhopal, Deep Water Horizon, etc can happen and lead to closure of the unit or selling of the assets to meet obligations.
CHOICE IS YOURS. WHICH WAY YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR ORGANIZATION.
Now-a-days, in western countries, when buying or placing order on a company, organizations conduct audit including quality, environment and safety audit. Similarly, while recruiting executives, these organizations should verify the safety credentials in the previous employment. For first timers, they can assess knowledge on safety systems, applicable legislations, etc or after recruitment, they can impart safety training. It is not sufficient only to see capabilities / past experience in achieving / reaching production targets alone. Assessment is to be done for SAFE PRODUCTION. Otherwise, accidents like at Bhopal, Deep Water Horizon, etc can happen and lead to closure of the unit or selling of the assets to meet obligations.
CHOICE IS YOURS. WHICH WAY YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR ORGANIZATION.
Jul 11, 2010
Safety training - for what?
Many times it is said that to avoid accidents, create awareness, training should be imparted to workers, supervisors and managers. Even employees also will ask for training programmes, seminars, etc. But, what is the actual interest from people. In many training programmes and seminars, we find participants enquiring about refreshments, lunch, bag, pen, etc for the programme rather than the technical programme. Once I heard that a programme will be termed successful, if three conditions are satisfied. They are,
1. Kit
2. Transport
3. Food
The next condition is some sight seeing tour. Even, in seminars we see participants constantly moving in and out with actual serious discussions limited to very few persons. In training programmes conducted within the plant premises also, participants get phone calls to attend some work at shopfloor. Why people will be nominated, if they can't spare the person for the programme. Only for records?
For some, nomination to training programme is like a holiday with pay. They will come at the beginning of the programme and then disappear to do their personal works in the town or see friends.
A training programme will be effective only when participants are subjected to some form of test at the end of the programme and are penalized, if they do not secure atleast minimum marks. Participants should be asked to discuss on a given topic and should be evaluated for their active participation and contribution. If they are involved in any accident or incident after the programme, then he should be asked what is wrong with him or the training he received earlier. May be such evaluation will help the organization to make the training programmes effective and worthy.
1. Kit
2. Transport
3. Food
The next condition is some sight seeing tour. Even, in seminars we see participants constantly moving in and out with actual serious discussions limited to very few persons. In training programmes conducted within the plant premises also, participants get phone calls to attend some work at shopfloor. Why people will be nominated, if they can't spare the person for the programme. Only for records?
For some, nomination to training programme is like a holiday with pay. They will come at the beginning of the programme and then disappear to do their personal works in the town or see friends.
A training programme will be effective only when participants are subjected to some form of test at the end of the programme and are penalized, if they do not secure atleast minimum marks. Participants should be asked to discuss on a given topic and should be evaluated for their active participation and contribution. If they are involved in any accident or incident after the programme, then he should be asked what is wrong with him or the training he received earlier. May be such evaluation will help the organization to make the training programmes effective and worthy.
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