Every Thursday, SafetyXChange's Training and Leadership newsletter features an article on how to train, motivate, inspire and build support for your safety program. Here are 12 of our favorite articles from 2006 that we think you will find particularly useful. (Remember that all of our articles are archived on the site. The Training and Leadership articles can be found here.)

1. In some ways, the experiences of Captain Cook in the 18th century are typical of the challenges faced by today's safety director. The Art of Safety: That Magic Five-Point Program – Commitment, Part 2 of 2, by Art Fettig.
2. The not-so-obvious hazards on a construction site are in some ways more dangerous than the obvious ones because they don't look dangerous. They create a trap by giving people on the site a false sense of security. Construction Fall Hazards: My 10 Pet Peeves, by Dave Gouthro.
3. Company downsizing, upsizing, re-engineering, reorganizing or restructuring all affect the safety, health and well-being of all your employees on and off the job. Managing Change: Strategies for Supervisors, Part 1, by Michael Topf.
4. Safety Committees can't get things done if their meetings lack cohesion, structure and a spirit of cooperation. In a word, Safety Committees need leadership. And it often falls on safety managers to provide it. Safety Committee Meetings: Breaking Up the Us vs. Them, by John Lowrie.
5. Delegating is not just dumping work on others. It is an empowerment technique enabling you to help others succeed. It's a win-win situation. Leadership Strategies: How to Delegate Tasks, Part 1 of 2, by Mark Hansen.
6. It's okay to hold super-short meetings every now and then. The Hawk's Eye View: 6 Ways to Add Life to Your Meetings, by Richard Hawk.
7. An effective technique to overcome workers' reluctance to report near misses is to analogize near misses at work to incidents at home. Near Miss Reporting: Bringing the Message “Home” to Your Employees, by Greg Seavers
8. There are a variety of things that can cause trainees to tune out their trainers. Communication Skills: 10 Reasons Your Trainees Aren't Listening To You, by Catherine Jones.
9. Trainers who use humor to convey information are generally more effective in getting their audience to accept and remember their message. Tips for the Trainer: Want to Enlighten? Then Lighten Up, by Barbara Manning Grimm.
10. The success of you and your safety program will to a large degree depend on your effectiveness in enlisting the HR director's support. Organizational Challenges: When the HR Director You Report to Doesn't Understand Safety, by John Bruce.
11. Usually, quotes are used to introduce or support a premise made in a presentation, sales pitch or advertisement. But if you're using them solely in that context, you could be overlooking an illuminating aid. Presentation Techniques: How Quotations Can Inspire Your Creative Genius, by Mark Hansen.
12. Training is not about what goes on during the workshop. Training is about what happens in the days, months and years after the session ends. Training the Trainer: How to Provide Safety Training that Induces Change, by John Cameron.

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