Often, these forum discussions involve problems we face and various ways to over come them. I thought I'd share some of the results of a successful safety meeting. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

     The topic of last months driver safety meeting was 'Mountain Driving'. I asked three drivers to each prepare a two to three minute presentation on a given subject. One talked about what happened to him when he was following too close on a steep down grade and what he learned from the experience. Another spoke about her accident. She rolled her rig on a steep down grade after losing her brakes. Four broken bones and three days in the hospital. The third driver (our most experienced mountian driver) talked about preparing for and driving in the mountains. None of these drivers had spoken in front of a group before. I asked each of them to speak to help the younger drivers avoid getting in trouble. This was not a punishment.

     Each of them felt they had not done a polished job, but their heart felt words really made an impression on the group. Most of the drivers came up after the meeting and in the following days to give their approval and appreciation. It really made a difference as these drivers heard safety messages from their peers.

     I ended the meeting with a power point about the results of a runaway truck in a mountain wreck involving many vehicles, injuries and one fatality. I had been handed several three year old newspapers covering this wreck. I contacted one newspaper and the photographer, asking permission to use the article and photos in our safety meeting. They graciously agreed and emailed eleven images to me. I put the images in some semblance of order to match the story and had someone read the story while I clicked through the images. At the end, we had a lively discussion with a majority participating. We usually have a lot of grumbling about how long the meeting lasts, but this time we had difficulty getting them to go home.

     I have always resisted safety meetings with canned messages and films. Now that I am on the presentation side (rather that the receiving side), I do all I can to have one of a kind meetings. Two meetings ago, we selected two drivers to each have an 'accident'. We used an old truck with a special bumper and an old car. After each 'wreck', the group coached the driver on what to do, step by step. In the second 'wreck', we had a selected injury victim who moaned and groaned while we applied first aid. The drivers had a great time and I had plenty of volunteers to help sweep up the broken glass.

     Please take the time to share your success stories with us.

I like your approach to training...it's very effective.

I have similar training stories, and a shared passion for proactive training.

I believe if you demonstrate to someone the effects of unsafe actions; and they retain that demonstration in their memory; their less likely to work unsafe. (common sense)

Great Job Lonnie!

I find it interesting that I am the first one to comment on this wonderful success story. 1388 views, and no one has anything to say...EH!!! 

Thank you!

I'll have to admit the lack of response of any kind for so long did let some of the wind out of my sails.

I have picked up a number of really good ideas on this site and continue to look forward to each visit. Please share some of your success stories.

Thanks again,

I would be happy to share a success story.

I was almost killed one day at work when 70 000 lbs. of steel came crashing down.  I have the full story about my close call at work in my Bio section.

That close call changed my out-look on workplace safety forever, subsequently, I became the certified trainer for our over-head crane.

My training classes always started off with "My Story".  This gave the training a new dynamic, it gave me something to get their attention, and hold it.  No one fell asleep in my class! 

I love training, and miss it very much.

I do have a story that I was told in my class from an instructor, it's a story about the things we do without thinking.

One day a worker looses a quarter of his finger wile working on a machine.

The boss comes in, and can't understand how it happened.

The worker recovers, and returns to work some weeks later. 

He is asked by management to demonstrate what had happened to cause his partial amputation.

The worker climbs up to a hole on the machine and Say's "I was lining up this hole with my finger like this and"... Chop! 

He lost the rest of the finger by showing how he got hurt.

All you trainers out there, feel free to use this story in your training classes.

I don't have a lot of stories to share, but one technique I have found helpful concerns training for simple fire fighting and the use of extinguishers.  Pure class room lecture tends to put people asleep, especially after repeating the same lectures over several years.  I found the classroom portion to be much more interesting when I arranged some hands on training too, with employees actually putting out controlled fires with extinguishers.  Adds a bit of adrenaline, and once the fires are successfully put out, most every one realizes that handling a small fire on their own isn't impossible.

We arrange to have the fires started and monitored by the company that does our annual fire extinguisher inspections.  Depending on your company, you may have the staff in-house to set it up.  I used to work in an oil refinery and our in-house fire brigade was very good at giving the rest of the employees a realistic training session.

This is a very good idea! 

I have taken part in fire extinguisher training set up just like you described, and it is in my opinion, the best way to do it.  I recommend this approach to any safety training program, it is effective! 

ka5rcd:

     Often, these forum discussions involve problems we face and various ways to over come them. I thought I'd share some of the results of a successful safety meeting. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

     The topic of last months driver safety meeting was 'Mountain Driving'. I asked three drivers to each prepare a two to three minute presentation on a given subject. One talked about what happened to him when he was following too close on a steep down grade and what he learned from the experience. Another spoke about her accident. She rolled her rig on a steep down grade after losing her brakes. Four broken bones and three days in the hospital. The third driver (our most experienced mountian driver) talked about preparing for and driving in the mountains. None of these drivers had spoken in front of a group before. I asked each of them to speak to help the younger drivers avoid getting in trouble. This was not a punishment.

     Each of them felt they had not done a polished job, but their heart felt words really made an impression on the group. Most of the drivers came up after the meeting and in the following days to give their approval and appreciation. It really made a difference as these drivers heard safety messages from their peers.

     I ended the meeting with a power point about the results of a runaway truck in a mountain wreck involving many vehicles, injuries and one fatality. I had been handed several three year old newspapers covering this wreck. I contacted one newspaper and the photographer, asking permission to use the article and photos in our safety meeting. They graciously agreed and emailed eleven images to me. I put the images in some semblance of order to match the story and had someone read the story while I clicked through the images. At the end, we had a lively discussion with a majority participating. We usually have a lot of grumbling about how long the meeting lasts, but this time we had difficulty getting them to go home.

     I have always resisted safety meetings with canned messages and films. Now that I am on the presentation side (rather that the receiving side), I do all I can to have one of a kind meetings. Two meetings ago, we selected two drivers to each have an 'accident'. We used an old truck with a special bumper and an old car. After each 'wreck', the group coached the driver on what to do, step by step. In the second 'wreck', we had a selected injury victim who moaned and groaned while we applied first aid. The drivers had a great time and I had plenty of volunteers to help sweep up the broken glass.

     Please take the time to share your success stories with us.

    

I teach a two day safety workshop and I have alot of background in it. I find that most people that are at the safety meetings don't want to be there. You must win these over to your side and do it fast. If not they will run your class and not you. I find a three step plain works well.

1, Lay down the law. They must know that you run the class and and you make the rules. Then lighten up a little at a time. They will feel like they are wining you over. Most people want what they can't have. Play hard to get, don't play in to their hand.

2, Ask for their input. The class is for them right?  Make sure when they leave they leave with paper work. Put something in their hands like "Your Input on Safety"

3, Follow up, go to their work site and ask if they need help with the paper work. The paper work is just a way to get you in. Look around their work site, let them teach you.

Just remember, I don't care how good your class is, you can't teach if they will not listen.