Health & Safety

[Raggamuffin]

Got over 25 health and safety training videos and tests to do at work. I can't stand them. Had to do them at a previous job. Complete waste of time.

The videos are boring and the questions are worded like they're meant for a 12 year old.

Current one I'm doing is on bullying and harassment. You think the pyramids would've been built if there wasn't any bullying or harassment in the workplace?

Wrong.

The only thing I can relate to in this training is all the photographs of sad faces.

Probably taken whilst they had to complete the patronising and rudimentary training videos.

Ed

 

[Magna]

I feel your pain, Ed. Hang in there!

 

[Ezra]

They are probably designed to reach the less bright among the workforce, as they are more likely to do something stupid. It's all about liability needless to say.

 

[simetra]

You think the pyramids would've been built if there wasn't any bullying or harassment in the workplace?

I am so unmotivated to continue my assignment I would rather write an essay on this topic right now.

 

[Pats]

I have to agree with @Ezra There are people out there that need all that training and need to have it worded in the simplest terms possible. But it does make the rest of us feel like they think we're, well, not so bright.

 

[SDRSpark]

A lot of those things are for liability reasons. Like "it looks better for us in court if we made everyone take this training on how you shouldn't bully people. We did our part." CYA, designed by lawyers. They pretty much know that no one is going to pay attention or remember or care, what's important is that it's on record that you did it, so if there's a problem, the company can point to that record and say "see we made them do the training!"

It's the same with numerous trainings on various subjects that I have had to take over the years lol. They often end with a half-hearted "check your knowledge" section...and it's the easiest test in the world (and you get unlimited re-dos) because they really, truly don't want you to fail. They care less about you being an expert in what the training is about than they do about you being on record as having done the training so they can point to it and say "see? We made them do a training!"

 

[Raggamuffin]

I did think it was all due to liability on the companies part. The manager was trying to show it off as a worthwhile exercise for us to take up 15 hours or so of our time doing these tests etc. In reality I think all of us think it's a monumental waste of time

Ed

 

[unperson]

It's a job, they pay you to be bored, eventually.

 

[Alexej]

Yes a lot of it is about CYA (cover your ass).
But it is a way to help make sure all the folks in a work team are on the same page. it does not directly improve things in and of itself.

So long as there is no test at the end just let the video run on one screen and do something different on another. If there is a test you need to give a bit more attention.

 

[simetra]

I work part-time at a university right now, which means most of my work is done sitting down and reading / thinking / wildly typing incoherent stuff into Microsoft Word.
Still, we all have to do a so-called "ladder exam" to teach us how to correctly store, handle, and climb a ladder.
The best part: We must re-do it every year.
University's insurance demands it.

 

[menander]

Yup. Grants and CYA and more grants. Train ____ amount of workers, get $_____ in state and/or federal grants.

 

[Mary Terry]

As a former employer, I can assure you that those seminars are for the purpose of limiting the employer's liability when some creep assaults or sexually harasses a woman in the workplace, or some idiot doesn't use proper safety equipment and injures him/herself or a bystander, and to decrease liability insurance premiums. If you already know everything, then just snooze through the videos.

 

[Judge]

Mere employees outside of management are not likely to be approached by sober insurance underwriters who have opted to non-renew their liability or workers compensation policies. No reason for them to be concerned about the overhead costs, potential exposures and hazards of their workplace, unless of course they are a victim of them. Or that they were a documented cause of such a loss. Which if the case, expect to be under a great deal of unwanted scrutiny.

Otherwise it falls on the management or corporate officers to learn that their insurance has been increased or worse non-renewed, which usually results in a more complex search for coverage, as well as much higher premiums. Making them a little crazy at times, and for good rea$on. People you might just want to avoid for a while....lol.

Having worked in insurance underwriting for nearly two decades, quite often it was those businesses with the least obvious hazards and exposures which were the ones to consistently generate the most losses. There's just too many people running around with either a false sense of security or misplaced indifference when it comes to their place of work. It's why such health and safety presentations may well be a contractual requirement of insurers, and not merely your employer alone.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

 

[Alexej]

Here are some examples of what folk actually do

 

[Alexej]

Examples of working at height

 

[WoodWorkingJoel]

They are probably designed to reach the less bright among the workforce, as they are more likely to do something stupid. It's all about liability needless to say.

Nope, they are designed to cover the company from a legal standpoint.
They only care about having a record you did it not that you actually did.

 

[Ezra]

Nope, they are designed to cover the company from a legal standpoint.

I know, that is why I said it is all about liability.

They only care about having a record you did it not that you actually did.

I think they also want to be able to demonstrate that the safety video was thorough and understandable, should the need arise in a liability situation. So that's why they are so painfully dumbed down and redundant.