Add sparkle to your safety training . . . by delegating it
to team members |
Remember the old saw: "The teacher learns
more than the pupils."
John Hopkins, supervisor in a San Diego fabricating plant, hit upon
a great way to increase attentiveness and interest in his safety
training quite "by accident", as he says.
"I was heavily involved in installing new equipment in place
of an old milling machine, when we received a significant rush
order from a major customer," he reports. "This made the
installation of the equipment a high priority and I asked Dave,
one of our operators, to conduct the monthly safety meeting, planned
for the following Monday.
"It just happened that the topic was lifting and carrying,
and
Dave, whose hobby is weight training, leapt at the opportunity
with gusto. He brought in equipment, and gave a short talk. He conducted
warm-up exercises; then he made everyone on our team try different
lifts, showing them safe ways to handle heavy weights without injury."
The team reacted enthusiastically to the lesson, Hopkins reports. "When team members commented that this was the best safety
meeting we had ever held, I realized that I was no better qualified
to conduct some of the sessions than members of our team."
Hopkins has now made this standard practice. He knows in advance
the topic for the following month's meeting, and calls for a volunteer.
Dave, with his well-presented lesson on back safety, set a high
standard, which others have done their best to follow. The result
has been some inspiring safety meetings, he reports.
"When I asked Shirley to cover the topic on ergonomics,"
he says, "she visited a local College and obtained a model
of a skeleton with a schematic showing nerves. She used it to explain
how nerves are pinched when joints are held at awkward angles."
For their meeting on hot weather safety, another team member made
a trip to the fifty mile away Anza-Borrego Desert State Park where
daytime temperatures regularly exceed 100º F. He came back
with survival pamphlets which he handed out to everyone.
"Our safety meetings have become truly interesting and informative,
and
team members try to
outdo each other with
their presentations."
Hopkins still provides the technical information
for the meetings, such as meeting guides and technical information,
but mainly, he leaves it to team members to conduct the meetings.
Hopkins sees these benefits from this
approach:
- It frees up the supervisor's time. "I
do not have to do as much preparation," Hopkins explains.
- The safety sessions are interesting and very
informative. "I am amazed at the level of energy and conscientious
research that team members apply to their sessions."
- It helps team members to grow. "Peter
had never done anything like this when he volunteered to demonstrate
and explain the
rules for fall protection. He was nervous when he held his session,
but it was so thorough that one of my colleagues from another
department asked if they could borrow him for half an hour to
repeat it."
- It increases interest in safety and builds
safety awareness. "Everyone is much more involved in the
safety program since we adopted this approach."
- Team members are truly learning the
importance of making safety a part of every task. "The teacher
truly does learn more than the pupils."
"Just as it is my responsibility to see that production levels
are maintained, it is also my duty to see that we have safety
training," Hopkins concludes. "I can't do everything
myself, which is why I have a team. I delegate the task—in
this case safety training—but maintain overall responsibility
to see that we carry out the training."
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