Safety Training Techniques That Work

Protecting the health of your workers is of high priority and the right thing to do both from a financial standpoint as well as simply caring for another human being.  Here are two more to consider:

1.  Keeping staff healthy, flexible and mobile are oftentimes taken for granted.  Some progressive companies now encourage membership in a health club or participation in an exercise/stretching program to ensure that workers remain flexible and healthy.  Of course, weight and mobility can be an issue in that much of custodial operations require being on their feet for extended periods of time.  I recently came across a worker weighing over 350 pounds wearing a back pack for a full eight hour shift.  Be the end of his run he was severely dehydrated, tired and limping due to knee and feet issues.  We were able to adjust his schedule so that he rotated between wearing the back pack and other duties thereby providing a more rounded regimen.  We also scheduled in hydration breaks so that his energy level was consistent for the full shift.  Finally, we encouraged him to get involved in stretching and other exercises that helped him with his feet and knee problems.   The results were that his attendance and productivity improved.

2.  Training to a standard and enforcing safe practices is a big investment with even bigger dividends.  Workers can oftentimes fall into unsafe habits without thinking of the risk or consequences to themselves or others.  The reason for training, observing, retraining and reinforcing the training is to protect workers from themselves and from potential health threatening situations. 

It is very important that the worker understand the “why” of safe practices if they are to perform their tasks correctly when no one is watching.  It is very important we know what is going on day to day to avoid unnecessary injuries and lost work days.

Your comments and questions are important. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, keep it clean…

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678.314.2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net.