The Results of Safety Training at the Moline Plant and Recommendations for Future Trainings - Essay Example

Summary report on the results of safety training at the Moline plant and recommendations for future trainings. On June 15th, 2005 the six weeks period dedicated to evaluation of the effectiveness of safety training undertaken at the Moline plant in April, 2005 has finished. As a member of the team that developed the safety policies and procedures, hereby I provide summary report on the results of safety training at the Moline plant with relevant recommendations for future trainings. First of all, it must be mentioned from the outset that the dedicated and widely implemented safety training proved to be a very effective means of reducing safety incidents at the Moline plant. In fact, as of the sixth week of the evaluation period, the average decrease of most typical safety incidents has reached 60%, a figure that had been steadily growing from the very first week of the evaluation period. Moreover, the number of incidents that resulted in lost time has diminished even more significantly, with only one incident reported of a fall resulting in a sprained back. However, the tendency of decrease of safety incidents was slowed down in the middle of the evaluation period, which corresponds to our pre-training expectations. In this regard, one of the most important factors that contributed to the mentioned positive trend from the very beginning of the evaluation period was the high level of employee`s motivation in relation to observance of safety rules, confirmed by the questionnaires distributed in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end of the evaluation period. The decline in the level of employee`s motivation in relation to observance of safety rules was marked in the middle of the evaluation period, which correlates with the slowed decrease of safety incidents. In this regard, the important conclusion can be drawn that for safety trainings to remain maximally effective for prolonged periods of time, they should be integrally incorporated into the work process at the Moline plant in the future. Building on the above-mentioned considerations, some relevant recommendations can be made as to the ways to achieve the most effective inclusion of regular safety trainings, and safety culture as such as well, to the work process at the Moline plant. Firstly, the practice of involvement of contract trainers has had mixed results and should be reevaluated. As a matter of fact, two of the four trainers received relatively low ratings from the students. Although the instructors were certified safety experts, students reported they knew little about the specifics of fiber-optic industry and other internal company issues. In this regard there are several possible ways to improve situation. One of them is to work with contract trainers before they conduct future safety trainings in order to have them better acquainted with the specifics of the Moline plant manufacturing process. The other option is to engage in upcoming safety trainings experienced plant employees rather than contractors. In fact, this option may be the most suitable, as the results of questioning show that most plant employees would opt for working with their experienced colleagues in the process of safety trainings. Moreover, the engagement of the experienced plant employees warrants the most qualified level of trainings that may cover most subtle details of the manufacturing process of the Moline plant. Thus, this approach to safety trainings, while completely adequate in terms of quality, may also turn out to be the most cost-effective one. Importantly, while we have witnessed the marked fall of safety incidents in terms of their prevention, the growth of effectiveness of accident response skills was of a lesser degree. In this light, it can be recommended that the accident response training be reinforced with live drills that should take place at regular intervals as well, and be conjoined with general safety training. The principles of choosing trainers for such live drills should be the same as for the general safety training, which was discussed earlier. For a fuller description of expected benefits of live simulations you may refer to articles with detailed recommendations about the organization of live simulations of personnel`s emergency response, which I provide along with the summary report. Also, there is one specific result of the evaluation period that must be mentioned. In their feedback some employees mentioned that they would like to receive training in electrical safety. For the most part, employees who have voiced this wish are newcomers to the Moline plant. Such initiative can also be attributed to the general growth of motivation of personnel in relation to observance of safety rules and should be actively encouraged. In this particular case, it can be recommended that an electrical safety course for operators be developed that covers subjects such as common electrical hazards, the causes of electrical shock, and common safety precautions when working around electrical equipment. Such electrical safety course should become a one-time obligatory drill for all new employees, and should be periodically implemented, for example along with the general safety trainings at the plant. For this course, the involvement of contract trainers may be quite adequate, as it will cover some basic safety rules and may be expected to be the most frequent course, while requiring from a trainer only the basic knowledge of the subject. This course can also be strongly recommended for administrative staff of the Moline plant. In general, the continuation of the practice of the dedicated and widely implemented safety trainings with inclusion of some reasonable modifications to this process, some of which I have mentioned, and some of which will yet be recommended after additional analysis of the effects of the April safety training, will warrant the maintenance of already visible progress in general safety and its further increase at the Moline plant through development of the sustainable commitment to safety culture in plant`s personnel. Sources Bexar County Fire Marshals Office. (2005). EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN. [World Wide Web page]. Available: http://www.co.bexar.tx.us/bcfmo/annexerp.htm (15 June 2005) Blake, G., & Bly, R.W. (1992). The Elements of Business Writing: A Guide to Writing Clear Concise Letters, Memos, Reports, Proposals, and Other Business Documents. Longman. Parr, L. (1999). Report Writing Essentials. 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