Topic II:
Health and Safety
Education and Training
Subtopic 1:Overview of Health and
Safety Training
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EU Framework
• Employers are legally obligated to take
measures to ensure worker safety and
health including provision of information
and training.
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Scope- applies to both public and private
sectors
• Training must be done at no cost to the
worker.
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Employee representatives with safety and
health responsibilities also entitled to
training at no cost during work hours.
Directives establish training requirements
for specific hazards.
EU requirements transposed to the
National level
Specific training developed under 3
general approaches.
• 1:National training requirements established
by legislation
• 2:Branch or industry wide agreements
established under bipartite/tripartite governing
boards
• 3. Training developed based on accepted codes
of Practice
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US framework
• No comprehensive training and
Education requirement
• Curriculum based on specific hazard or
requirements of the OSHA standard
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Many organizations follow systems approach
to instructional design.
• No formal tripartite approach
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Labor, Industry & Government all provide
training to both employees and supervisors
• Varying degrees of collaboration and cooperation
between the three
• Delivery – (EU and US)
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Classroom/hands on practical training
Imbedded with technical training
PC based
“Just-in-time” (here is the job, this is how
you do it safely)
Peer to Peer
Coaching, Mentoring, Buddy Systems
• Assessing effectiveness
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Level 1 – Student Reaction
Level 2- Student learning skills, knowledge,
Attitudes
Level 3 – post training (6-9 months), did
training result in change on the job/transfer
of training
Challenges
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Despite different frameworks, EU and US
face similar challenges
• Reaching SMEs
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many lack resources to effectively train
• Training consistency
• High turnover rate in certain industries
• Increased use of temporary workers and
subcontractors
• Lack of common understanding of “Safety
Culture”
• Expanding markets
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Different cultural views of safety and risk
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Difficulty reaching target audiences
Aging of safety and health
professionals
• Maintaining safety and health expertise
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Effectiveness of training
• Is it being learned?
• Is it being applied?
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Barriers to training (language,
literacy, generational, cultural)
Fear of training (recertification and
testing issues)
Strategies & Approaches
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Structured comprehensive approach
to safety
• Risk assessment
• Training targets
• Training content
• Planning
• Delivery
• Evaluation
• Continuous improvement and adoptions
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Management involvement at all
levels
• Leadership commitment, planning,
ongoing management, resources
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Employee involvement in all aspects
of safety and health including
training development, delivery and
application
Facilitating government/inspection
Establishment of baseline training
• Adapted to particular industry or
geographic location
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Collective bargaining/branch
agreements
Grant programs
• Fund non-profit organizations to
conduct training
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Train-the-trainer programs
Partnerships to deliver training to
wider and more diverse workers
Guidance to SMEs on how to conduct
and access training
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“Tool Box Training”
• On-site 10-15 minutes on different
topics
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Employer and Worker Identification
of specific S&H training needs of
workforce and target training
Future Collaboration
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Build on synergy
• A lot of good training/strategies have
been developed in both EU and US
• Develop a structured accessible forum
for sharing these on an on-going basis
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Web-based
Continued collaboration between EU
and US and between labor, industry,
government and other stakeholders
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Continued collaboration among
participants
• Identify specific mechanisms
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Succession Planning (future
conference topic)
Subtopic II: Education for Young
People and New Workers

Background:
• Employees have significantly higher risk
of injury during the first year of
employment
Challenges

Young workers more likely to take
risks
• Employers more inclined to condone or
not recognize risk
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Less sense of a “Safety Culture”
• Don’t recognize the importance of
safety
• Not aware of employee rights or
employer obligations
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Fear of losing job
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Market pressures
• Labor shortages in many high risk
industries
• High turnover as employees move
between jobs
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Often different hazards
Competing demands on educational
system
Lack of safety and health education
requirements
Decentralized school systems
Strategies & Approaches
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Safety and Health Education
Curriculum for all levels of education
• Encourages safe thinking and awareness
at an early age.
• Age appropriate
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Nursery- puzzles and games
Primary – Secondary – safety culture and
hazard awareness training
University (business mgt, engineering, MD)
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Safety poster contests (e.g. Poland)
Information meetings and workshops
for youth – community picnics
• Children can positively impact parents
awareness and behavior
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Annual informational campaigns
Video Contests (posted on youtube)
• 1000s of hits
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Incorporation of safety and health
content into mainstream education
requirements (reading, math, etc)
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Development and delivery of core
curriculum which can be tailored by
teachers at all educational levels
(e.g. NIOSH)
Apprenticeship programs
Vocational Programs
Charter Schools
• High schools which focus on developing
students to enter construction industry
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Development of H&S management
system for schools (e.g. Ireland)
• Teacher support and training of safety
Future Collaboration
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Evaluation of programs under
development and piloting
Mechanism to inform about new
programs/projects in EU and US
Sharing of best practices and
innovative approaches
Pooling, sharing and expanding
resources
Subtopic III: Addressing Cultural
Language and Literacy Barriers
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Background:
• Both EU and US have an increasing
number of immigrant workers who do
not share language or culture of host
country
• Tend to work in high risk industries
• High instances of accidents, injuries and
fatalities
Challenges
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Varying levels of risk acceptance
• Perceptions
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Legal status
Underground economy
Effectiveness of translators
Cultural differences
Literacy
• Both host and own languages
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Access to training
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Knowledge and skill level
• Varies
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Lack of standardization
Strategies and Approaches
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Peer training/mentoring
• Pair worker with journeyman worker who can
help facilitate understanding of training
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Cultural surveys before work begins
• Identify individual views
• Develop training to target individual and
regional differences
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Multilingual materials and information
Partnerships with consulates to distribute
training materials and information
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Use of visual training materials
• Pictogram risk assessment
• Work plan
• Consequences
• “Silent Movies” (e.g. Napo DVD)
• Helps addresses literacy issues
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Hands on practical training
Community based access points
• Churches, banks, physicians, libraries,
workers centers
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Children are often more literate than
parents and can facilitate transfer of S&H
information
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Communication and language skills
• Buddy system on work site
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Hazard specific translation services
• Transperanto.org offers translation of
key words and services for
transportation of dangerous materials
(27 different languages)
Future Collaboration
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Sharing of materials and approaches
• Explore opportunities to standardize
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Standardization of visual materials
Partnership to provide information to
workers before
migration/immigration
See future collaboration under
subtopic I & II