In the last two years I’ve been in 3 different workplaces, all of which required a few different safety trainings. I went from working in a dining hall at OSU, to a construction internship in Seattle, and now to a full time position as a field engineer.
One of the best training experiences I had actually happened this week. It was Construction Safety Week, so each day held a different training. One of the best ones of this week, was fire safety training. An outside fire safety training company led a presentation and demonstration on fire extinguishers and how to use them. The crews, field supervisors, and management were all in attendance. The presenter started off with basic information about the extinguishers and the different types. It was obvious that he had done this training many times and was very comfortable in front of a group. He was able to keep our attention with subtle jokes and pulling people in to help with demonstrations. Many people were able to try out a fire extinguisher simulation which had us putting out a small digital fire. I enjoyed this training because it was hands on, a group/team environment, and the presentation was well paced and entertaining.
On the other hand, another training I had this week was fall protection. While the majority of the training was informative and well sequenced, there was a distinct lack of focus from the group of people being trained, which was the same group as the prior training: crews, field supervisors, and management. The presenter was a representative from a personal fall arrest system manufacturer, and had brought with him several different types of fall protection bungees and tie-off equipment. One of the ways this training could be improved would be to have crowd involvement and hands on training.
