Keeping 'em interested!

One of the issues I sometimes have with safety training or indeed any training is that it needs to grab your attention and being glib or just plain boring and repetitive isn't enough.This is especially so when the topic/content could be life saving in the short or long term ...as is the case of much safety and hazard analysis training.Why does safety training have to be so uninspiring...?!I dont know how many passively delivered powerpoints are delivered like they are trying to sell coffins to aged pensioners in a nursing home...no go ,pretty dull.Surely we should be seeking feedback and being more relevant in the delivery of such important material.'Creativity' is the key!Learning is another.Why do so many disasterous deliveries of programs have no room to adapt and allow participation and contribution to the understanding of content by their intended market...the inductee or participant?

Heres a few tips;
Prioritise information.
What is essential to know by rote?eg facts,figures,statistics.Rules.

What is essentially a behaviour change?Are there needs for a conceptual(ideas based) understanding that may be learnt/communicated to the participants?
Sharing Knowledge;
Can points be emphasised by listening and dialoguing with particularly knowledgeable storytellers/and or groups...including each others experience?

What are some evaluable measures or outcomes of my success in presenting my info.?
What were some of my original aims.Did I fulfill them?What actions should I take in response to my feedback?What can I 'learn' to improve my communications?

There are many models and ways of doing the above...the point is allow participants to be able to take part in their own learning(at minimum).

Some models;

http://humanresources.about.com/od/trainingtransfer/a/training_work.htm
http://www.mindshop.com.au/sfw.nsf/aa6168053ca488954a2569910014bd6f/5756724038eca4d8ca256a38000d787c?OpenDocument


Remember that we may have all the bells and whistles for training,..but if it does not achieve what it set out to do it is unsuccessful.Bear in mind your market and redesign your sessions based on feedback at all times to make relevant.

TCC GROUP 'ONSITE SAFE'

TCC GROUP 'ONSITE SAFE'
Boredom and stress at work

One of the many overlooked areas in the cause of workplace injury is the impact of boredom and stress.What are we talking about when referring to boredom?

"The noun boredom has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the feeling of being bored by something tedious
Synonyms: ennui, tedium "

http://www.answers.com/topic/boredom


What is the link between boredom and stress?
Often the links between these two controversial areas are not explicit nor always reflected upon in their impacts in the workplace.This may include the psychological and physical impacts of fatigue symptoms http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Fatigue_explained?Open that can result as impacts of the various types of stress that workers/employees can suffer .

What types of stress and causes are there;
Often these can be characterized as emotional /psychological responses to being or feeling like one does not have the resources to cope with a high productivity rate or production load or understimulated by extremely boring or repetitive work organization and procedures.Both types of demands create various types of responses in various individuals and importantly in teams.

Factors in the way that we organize and manage our workplaces can also have important and destructive impacts which may reveal themselves in other less obvious workplace injuries or incidents/sicknesses.

“ If workplace stress and causal factors are recognised, it may be dealt with effectively. Stress is a wokplace hazard that should be identified, assessed and controlled in the same manner as other work hazards.
Contributing factors
• Absence of autonomy. A worker may not have control over the demands of work.
• Poor physical work environment may also contribute towards stress. Negative factors include cramped, hot or noisy working conditions.
• Workload factors. Workers can be understimulated with too little challenge or overwhelmed with unrelentingly high workloads.
• Repetitive or meaningless tasks. Lack of stimulation or challenge can lead to boredom, demotivation and lack of interest.
• Role ambiguity. An absence of clarity regarding expectations about a worker's duties.
• Work conflict. A major cause of stress at work is unmediated conflict between a worker and their supervisor or colleague(s).
• Occupational mismatch. There may not be sufficient fit between a worker and their organisation. This may be in terms of communication, rewards/ recognition or management style.
• Taking work home regularly can create conflict with family members and blur the work-home boundaries.
• Job satisfaction, security and career prospects may not meet the expectations of some workers.”

http://www.adelaide.edu.au/hr/ohs/occstress/stressaware.html

What can be done in the workplace?
In the short term I suppose it would be to actually acknowledge and identify whether yourself and workmates are under undue stress and what some of the impacts are .

Perhaps discussions can take place at the the ‘toolbox’ meetings and with management in regard to certain situations to help improve particular productivity based concerns.in addition perhaps a stress audit could be confidentially conducted
http://www.healthoz.com.au/docs/factsheets/Workplace_stress.pdf
to help identify some issues and possible implementable solutions.

I think that this area has a lot of importance and needs greater attention as issues identified such as fatigue are linked to this mix of factors.In addition the increasing impacts of depression demand investigation as to how workplace organization contributes to this malaise and hazard to health and wellbeing of employees and management alike.

Further information is available at;

http://www.safetyline.wa.gov.au/PageBin/disegenl0008.pdf
http://www.workershealth.com.au/facts018.html
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Fatigue_explained?Open