Safety Training for Safety Professionals - Part 1 of 4

Approach the answer to this question by defining exactly what training really is. The Webster's Dictionary defines the word training as follows: TRAINING - To form by instruction discipline or drill OR To make prepared for a test of skill.

It is also natural to assume that the words training, teaching, instructing, presenting; all mean the same thing. BUT, THEY DO NOT. WEBSTER'S defines the word teach as follows: TEACH - To cause to acquire knowledge or skill; to cause to know.

OK, so what is the difference in the practical world of being responsible for the employee safety in a business? Let's think about the definitions and then
examine a real world example.

The definition tells us that training means to FORM or PREPARE for a test of skill. Any way you read it, this definition incorporates an application, in other words the information, technique, instruction etc. must be put into practice in order to have TRAINED. TEACHING on the other hand means only to pass on the understanding of information.

Let's not get lost in a bunch of cloudy philosophical thought. For our purposes lets take for granted that teaching means KNOW and training means DO. Managing the safety and health of our employees and ourselves means accomplishing both; understanding what to do and then doing it.

This combination is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY BECAUSE THERE ARE NO ABSOLUTE JOB DESCRIPTIONS FOR FIELD ACTIVITIES. We must rely on the ability of our employees to understand new and varied situations as they occur and respond to them appropriately.

To put it in terms of SS (simplified safety), we truly want our employees to understand what is happening or what might happen and respond in a way which safeguards their life and health AND the life and health of others.

We're in the business of making a living, so what does the law say we absolutely have to do? Well, the law says TRAIN. But the reality is, we don't have the time or the resources to do this in a meaningful way. So really, we teach and establish our compliance with OSHA on the fact that we tried to give the appropriate information and make sure that our employees understood what we are instructing them to do.

BUT, WHY IS IT REQUIRED? (See: Part 2)