Many workplaces contain equipment and
facilities considered to be "confined" because their configurations
hamper the activities of employees who must enter, work in, or exit from them.
In many instances, employees who work in confined spaces also face an increased
risk of exposure to serious physical injury from hazards such as entrapment,
engulfment, and hazardous atmospheric conditions. Confinement itself may pose
entrapment hazards and work in confined spaces may keep employees closer to
hazards such as machinery components than they would be otherwise. For example,
confinement, limited access, and restricted airflow can result in hazardous
conditions that would not normally arise in an open workplace.
What is a confined space?
A confined space is a space that: (i) is large enough and configured so an
employee can enter and perform assigned work; (ii) has limited or restricted means for entry or
exit, and (iii) is not designed for continuous employee
occupancy.
All employees do need to be trained to face
and mitigate the hazards that they are exposed to, because every employee's
safety matters when it comes the health and safety in the workplace, and it is
the employer's responsibility to create a workplace free from any recognized
hazards. Training is one of the key factors to eliminate or reduce those
hazards.
Effective safety training helps prevent work-related
injuries and illnesses; it also encourages workers by educating and empowering
them to advocate for a safer workplace environment.
An effective training, workers should learn:
●How to identify the safety and health hazards
at their workplace;
●How to analyze the causes of these hazards;
●How to bring about a safer, healthier
workplace; and
●How to involve their co-workers in
accomplishing all the above.
Education: is a process through which learners gain
new understanding, acquire new skills, and/or change their attitudes.
Training: a more specialized form of education that
focuses on developing or improving skills. While training incorporates
educational theories, principles, and practices, its focus is on performance.
The goal of training is for learners to be able to do something new or better
than before.
Read this article to know how effective your training is.
The KSA Education Process: There are three basic strategies to educate
workers to gain knowledge, increase their skills, and improve abilities:
instruction, training, and experience
●Knowledge (Instruction): We must know something before we do
something.
●Skills (Training): Once we know something, we can focus on
learning how to do something.
●Abilities (Experience): Once we know how to do something, we must do
it outside the classroom to gain experience.
Before discussing those elements, you must make
learners understand the importance of working safely. That is the objective of
any training.
This short video shows the need for training in the workplace
Instruction
usually conducted as a course
in a classroom, meeting on the work floor, or workshop, it may also be given through written notices,
newsletters, presentations, or videos.
To document instruction you need an Attendance List to know who will be
present, for those who will be absent for any reason, you may need to plan
other training sessions, Written Testformally documents proficiency, which demonstrates
that a learner has learned something. Remember, "If it isn't in
writing, it didn't get done”.
Another document that allows you to evaluate the
effectiveness of your training is learner feedback through the Survey,
a survey can give you valuable information on the trainer's appreciation of the training topic, presentation quality, trainer qualifications, and how strongly
the training met his expectations.
Training
Training differs from instruction because it
focuses on improving "how-to" skills through
practice, it allows the learner to practice what he has learned during the
instruction, and it also allows the learner to apply that knowledge.
It may require a “demonstration” of adequate learner knowledge and skills or “hands-on-
how-to” that teaches a learner to do hazardous tasks, as part of
training.
Whatever the training
you plan to implement, click here to see the OSHA
training requirements
Training Facility: The training facility should have sufficient
resources, equipment, and site locations to perform didactic and hands-on
training when appropriate. Training facilities should have sufficient
organization, support staff, and services.
Training Director: The training program should be under the direction of a training director responsible
for the program. The Training Director should have some experience in
training.
Instructors: Instructors
should be competent based on previous documented experience in their area
of instruction, and an evaluation of competence by the Training Director.
Course Materials: The Training Director should approve all course
materials to be used by the training provider; materials should be
reviewed and updated at least annually. Materials and equipment should be
in good working order and maintained properly.
The program for accepting Trainees: The program should include the assurance that the
trainee is or will be involved in the tasks subject to the training topics
and provide a “Fit-To-Work” certificate from medical services.
Ratios:
Trainee-instructor ratios should not exceed 30 Trainees per instructor for
the instruction courses. “Hand-on” activities (requiring the use of PPE)
should have rations of 5 to 10 trainees per instructor.
Proficiency assessment: should evaluate the knowledge and individual skills
developed in the course of training. It's important to understand that
"individual," not "group" testing should be taken into
consideration.If a written test is used, there should be a minimum
of 20-30 questions. The trainee should answer all questions and a minimum
test score of 70% should be required. If a skills demonstration is used,
the Training Director should choose and document the tasks and determine
the successful completion criteria.
Course certificate: Each trainee who satisfactorily completes the
training course should be provided with a certificate (and/or card), you
should provide a permanent record of your training achievements which should
be kept in the trainee's possession. The certificate should mention:
●student name;
●course title;
●course completion date;
●validity period of the certificate;
●statement that the trainee has successfully
completed the course;
●name and position of the instructor;
●name and address of the training provider;
●An individual identification number for the
certificate.
Recordkeeping: You should keep records including the dates courses
were presented, the names of the attendees, the names of those trainees
successfully completing each course, and the number of training
certificates issued to each successful student. These records should be
kept for a minimum of 5 years.
Program quality Audit: The Training Director should conduct an annual audit
of the training program. The audit should indicate any program
modifications to address deficiencies, and the Audit findings should be sent
to management for follow-up as part of the HSE Management System review.
Trainer Qualifications
Should be deemed competent based on previous
documented experience in his area of expertise, statements by co-workers or
managers, and an evaluation of competence by the Training Director.
Trainer Evaluation
Should be required to maintain professional
competency by participating in continuing education or professional development
programs and having an annual review by the Training Director or other
competent manager.
Management Involvement
Because of their responsibilities for
workers and activities being performed by those workers, managers and
supervisors play an important role in health and safety protection; they
should be fully involved in safety training programs to send a strong message
of personal leadership
“If managers and supervisors can’t train
safety, how can they supervise and manage it?”
Managers and Supervisors Training
You can focus on those topics to involve managers and
supervisors in safety training:
●Safety inspection;
●Hazard Identification;
●Accident Investigation;
●Employees Recognition and Discipline;
●Safety Leadership;
●Job Safety Analysis;
●Hazard Control Strategies;
●Safety Management system;
●On-the-job training (OJT)
Safety Training Objectives
Objectives state observable and measurable outcomes:
●Training Objectives: Describe what the trainer will do. For
example: “Trainer will start with an introduction of the topic”, then “the
detailed elements of the topic”, and finally “the summary and conclusion”.
●Learning Objectives: Describe what the trainee will learn at the
end of the course. For example, “By the end of this course, you will be able to
use a fire extinguisher safely”.
“Hands-on” Learning
You will need to include “hands-on” learning activities to
show the trainee how to do things; it also means you will need to allow the trainee to practice.
Training
Presentation Strategies: You might ask yourself which mode of training work best
for you? You can choose one (or more) from those presentation strategies:
●Classroom Training: This is a classic method that can be an in-house
or external source, and can quickly train learners when needed, usually a whiteboard, or data-show is used.
●On-the-Job-Training (OJT): Considered the best training strategy which
requires the trainee to demonstrate adequate knowledge and skill to perform the
task with practice. Workers must be trained before exposure to the hazards
related to the task, conducting a simulation in the learning environment is the
only way to certify adequate knowledge and skill to perform hazardous tasks
WITHOUT exposing the workers to real hazards.
●Mini-Training Sessions: this is the best method used to keep workers updated
to last changes in procedures, rules, and processes can be as short as five
minutes or up to 30 minutes.
●Distance Learning: This is the most popular because trainees can
fit short training sessions on the computer into their homes.
Training Requirements
The trainee needs to get practice before
being exposed to the real hazards in the workplace. There are three roles to
consider:
●Demonstration: Trainee should be able to “demonstrate” that
he has both knowledge and ability to perform hazardous tasks safely before he
is allowed to being working in the workplace; he should demonstrate the knowledge,
skills, and abilities (KSA) as below:
oIf he can teach the trainer how to perform the
tasks;
oTo determine the abilities, the trainer (or a
competent person) can evaluate the trainee while performing the workplace
procedure.
●Retraining: At any time the employer (or supervisor)
believes a worker lacks adequate knowledge, skills, or ability to perform a
task safely, that worker should receive retraining to improve his proficiency
level.
●Certification: a worker who must perform a hazardous task
should be certified as “qualified” by the employer or
supervisor.
Remember
Attendance List should not be considered certification proof.
Training Recording
Records can provide evidence of the employer’s good faith
effort to comply with government regulations, they can also help the employer
defend against claims and persecutions. In the case of accident investigations,
training records can give answers to whether the injured person was adequately
trained to do the task or not.
Attendance Lists
Those lists can help to follow up on the workers' training
and help to update scheduled training sessions.
Training Certification
Safety training should include written certification of
competency and qualification.
Accidents happen when people do things wrong. Sometimes they are mistakes and sometimes they are just not paying attention to what they're doing or don't know the rules of how something works safely.
Have a look at those short videos:
When you examine those scenes closely you might ask yourself why they were so overconfident? and why they behaved this way?
That's why 98% of accidents are caused by "Human Error ", and the best strategy to face this kind of issue is called Behavior-Based Safety.
What is the Behavior-Based Safety
Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) is a proactive method of avoiding human error and improving workplace safety by observing and analyzing workers’ behavior while they work; it also determines what follows when this behavior occurs and what motivates underlying behaviors, to increase safe behavior.
The Benefits of BBS:
Always working safely
Improved Safety practices to change from unsafe and risky situations to a safe workplace environment.
Increase awareness and preparedness to mitigate against a known hazard.
React and respond safely when an emergency arises.
Get continuous feedback whenever changes are implemented.
Involve and engage worker participation by rewarding positive behavior.
Provides Key Result Indicators (KPIs) to measure improvement.
6 Steps to conduct Behavior-Based Safety
Step 1: Observe
Observe workers while working, you should immediately which behaviors are safe (for recognition) and which are unsafe (need correction).
What is positive in their behavior?
What is unsafe or at risk?
Stop, take a deep breath and think. If you invest a few seconds thinking, it will be easier for you to approach the person with a pre-established plan.
Step 2: Plan
What safe behavior or action do you want the person to tell you at the end of your intervention?
After all, you don't want to stumble your way through the intervention, you need a plan.
Before you intervene you will decide: "What safe behavior/action do I want the person to tell me at the end of the intervention.
The plan can be either for recognition or for correction. this is also your Performance Indicator: if you get the person to say the right behavior or action and repeat it, you have been successful.
Step 3: Approach
Approach and greet positively the person: "Good morning, can I ask you what are you doing?"
Stop the activity, Make sure you do not surprise the people and cause an accident, Ask them if they could stop and if you might speak with them for a moment? Show respect and make sure you do not appear threatening, do this in a friendly way. Take into consideration how many people are present, usually the smaller the better, and Start with something positive, good things happen from positive attitudes, this will set the tone for a friendly encounter.
Step 4: Ask
Ask Questions and listen to what could go wrong? Use open-ended questions, never tell, you must listen and ask until they identify the risks themselves.
The key point here is to get the person to tell you the risks, you have failed if you are the one telling. This may require some persistence, and several questions, do not give up, keep going.
Use words like: “what do you think?”, “what do you believe?”.
If they tell you the safe behavior or the right action which you are looking for (your plan), you are making progress.
Step 5: Obtain
Obtain the Action (or the verb). Use those questions: "Do you think there is a safer (or better) way to do this?", "What could you do to make this go safely?"
You are trying to get them to say “I will do the (safe behavior in your plan).
This is the moment of truth, obtain safe action with questions.
Once the person mentions your targeted action, you will be almost ready to finish the intervention.
You've made a successful intervention if they say the safe behavior you identified in your plan in step 2.
Step 6: Commit
Now you want them to repeat the safe behavior or the right action, ask them: “And what are you going to do the next time you do this task?” after they repeat the safe behavior or the right action then you have succeeded.
The Three Yes Principle :
Is it your responsibility to “safe verb/behavior”? YES
Do you think that this (safe verb) is good for you and your family? YES
Do you think that doing this (safe action) from now, it will help you to be safe? YES
Thank them and end on a positive note and a handshake.
20mn Method
There is another way to conduct Behavior-Based Safety called the 20mn method:
The point is watching each other's back, it's nothing more important than keeping an eye on all of the workers to make sure we're performing the work task correctly and it without risk.
The first step of the BBS is (i) to introduce yourself to the crew, then (ii) explain to them what are you going to do (doing a safety observation on behavior-based safety, letting them know that you are not there to interrupt their work, and there's no finger-pointing, there are no repercussions, this is just observations in ways to improve the company safety program, you also want to (iii) focus on for 20 minutes, you will have a picture of what they're doing correctly and what needs improvement.
Start the discussion with positive things for example: “you're wearing full PPE, hard hats, steel-toe boots, safety glasses, earplugs if you need them, you are all communicating well with one another, keep up the good job!”, and when we're providing feedback make sure that you're giving them the positive first such as the improvement as far as good housekeeping. Then talk about what needs improvement for example tools arrangement like: “I saw a couple of shovels lying down” or “maybe it will be better if the move fire extinguisher from the sidewalk”, then always end with a positive appreciation like: “You're doing good work! Thank you to everyone and keep helping each other and have a good day”.
The objective of behavior-based safety is to integrate safety into the daily work, and create an even flow between safety and getting the work accomplished involving and engaging all of the workers as active observers and when we do this, safety just becomes natural.
Human Factor: Emotions
As a supervisor, you may know some personal information about your people; like family, special interests, and other things they care about.
When doing Step 4: Ask, you can make them explore the risks associated with the behavior and become aware of the potential consequences. If you have a good relationship based on confidence, you might use this advantage to move them to change their behavior, use questions like: “What would happen to your family if you get hurt?” or "How would you feel if you could not play soccer anymore?”
Now let's talk about obstacles or barriers you might find in implementing the Behavior-based safety program, in other words, why people do not intervene?
We just want to be popular and avoid confrontation.
People do not feel comfortable when they are corrected by others.
People do not want interference from others while working.
Many people prefer to write up rather than talk face-to-face with other people.
People may feel embarrassed when they are intervened.
People are reluctant to intervene with their seniors if they are engaged in at-risk behavior.
You do not know how the person you intervene with will react.
Consequences of not intervening
If you observe an unsafe act or an at-risk behavior and do not intervene you are condoning that at-risk behavior and you will make the other person believe that his or her unsafe behavior is correct to be practiced and is perfectly acceptable.
After you have observed an unsafe behavior, you must not yield to the temptation of not intervening, you know that the problem will not go away. You must intervene right away to show your commitment to the company policy regarding safety. As a supervisor, never indulge yourself in at-risk behavior. Lead by example. Otherwise, you will lose all of your credibility.
How to influence people
There are different ways to influence someone’s behavior. You can use Fear, Punishment, or encouragement to try to influence people to act safely. Fear and Punishment only work when people know that you are watching them. Encouragement, on the other hand, is very effective in changing behaviors permanently and far more powerful than, criticism, fear, or punishment as proved by research psychologists.
Remember how you were encouraged as a child and how now, if you are a parent, you encourage your own children to do something or behave in a certain way. You instinctively praise your children every time they do a certain action or display a certain behavior that you are trying to promote. You must use the same principle at work to encourage people to behave safely.
Your own Behavior
Human beings may react differently when they are intervened. As a matter of fact, a lot depends upon your own behavior while intervening. Your behavior must always be fair and professional. Treat the other person in the same way as you would like yourself to be treated.
Behavior always breeds behavior. People will tend to match the behavior you present to them. Even if you are the supervisor of the person that you are intervening with, being aggressive may make the intervention look powerful but it is not effective at all in the long run.
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