Training

The Déjà Vu of Safety

By Linda Johnson Sherrard, MS, CSP · October 30, 2007

For us safety professionals, everything applies to safety in one way or another. My favorite sports quote is one uttered by Yogi Berra: "This is like deja vu all over again!" It sums up our safety efforts perfectly. Safety is outrageously redundant and yet constantly new because of our efforts to educate by any means possible -- from huge classes to awareness snippets on corporate intranet sites. We decide what is needed and devise a plan, then plan the back-up plan, the "what if" plan, the "uh oh" plan, and the disaster recovery plan in case nothing else works.

I remember several years ago, during a hurricane, a visitor asked each of several managers, "How many flashlights do you have on you right now?" and picked out the safety and maintenance people by the answers. The senior safety folks had at least two apiece; some had three and extra batteries. (One guy did not even bring a flashlight or boots.) Real safety pros believe in back-ups for every situation "just in case."

Let Me Say it Again….
Safety is a never-ending squeaky wheel of training, too. We train over and over on the same topics. We work one-on-one to problem-solve, to counsel, to debate, to plead, to make changes, to upgrade, and to recommend disciplinary action. We summarize what we have accomplished and are proud of the advances safety has made. Then a new bunch of employees comes on board, and the process begins all over again: new employee orientation, basic training on topics such as fire safety and HazCom, targeted training on specific hazards or processes, mandatory annual retraining, with drills to ensure understanding.

We have new initiatives and continuance of the old standards at the same time. We listen patiently without yawning to the same exact questions asked for decades. With interest, without criticism or sarcasm for employees who may not realize what they are asking has been proposed previously, we respond accordingly.

The goal of the seemingly redundant nature of safety is training each employee until the desired reaction or behavior is not second nature, but first. For example, when the fire alarm sounds, your desired reaction is for all employees to spring into action toward the approved exits or firefighting activities, depending on your policy and training. This happens if your program is successful. If not, however, employees do not take the brief/random training seriously when the fire alarm sounds. They close their doors, joke, interfere with others' evacuating, or even have no idea what "that noise" is.


Battling Burnout and Brownout
Our challenges are many and great. One of the most important is keeping the topic in front of the employee in such a way as to be listened to, respected, and taken seriously. The big challenge is burnout: There is a very real problem of becoming overwhelmed at the never-ending repeating, arguing, fighting over funds, and trying to keep often complex topics fresh and interesting to employees. Burnout comes often to safety professionals who manage a program. Brownout is even more common -- it is a type of "stress fatigue" from repeating the same materials so often and never seeing an end. We safety professionals reach the point where all the information begins to run together. That is the warning signal for safety professionals to step back and take a break from the topic or recharge their personal batteries to prevent burnout. In my opinion, this adds to the prevalent job-changing in our field. We want something different, a new personal challenge to keep our minds and spirits alert and on point for the ethics we hold so dear to protect human life. Linda J. Sherrard, MS, CSP, is Technical Editor of Occupational Health & Safety.

About the author

Linda Johnson Sherrard, MS, CSP
Linda Johnson Sherrard, MS, CSP, is Technical Editor of Occupational Health & Safety.



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