As I said a few days ago, 2007's been another great year of growth and improvement for SafetyXChange. And as our community evolves, the one constant we can always rely on is the great material that we receive from you. Thank you all for being so generous with your time and your advice. Here's a quick look at just a dozen of your articles from this year's Training and Leadership Weekly published every Thursday. (Remember that all SafetyXChange articles are archived on the site. The Training and Leadership articles can be found here.)

1. Safety reminders are great and training is essential. But if the message is to get through, we need to find a way to silence the inner voices of our trainees. To do that, we need to appeal to a higher motive. Getting the Safety Training Message Across: Quieting Your Trainees' Inner Voices, by Greg Seavers.

http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=445&cha_id=4

2. Reaffirmation can and must come not just from others but from within ourselves. As safety supervisors, we need to step back and remind ourselves of the importance of what we do. The Supervisor's Perspective: Is Safety Really a Thankless Job?, by Corey Jones.
http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=470&cha_id=4

3. Leadership demands that you send the appropriate message to your workers, who are looking to you for answers and an example to follow. As safety leaders, it is therefore important that we learn to keep our frustration and temporary disillusionment to ourselves. Defining Moments: Being a Leader When the System Fails, by Neil Monkman.
http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=476&cha_id=4

4. When creating videos internally to be used as a training tool, have each department (mechanical, electrical, maintenance, etc.) designate someone from their particular area to present a five minute video on any safety item/concern they have. Video Safety Training: 5 Tips for Amateur Video Producers, by SafetyXChange Members.
http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=491&cha_id=4

5. Video safety training is serious business and those who think they can get into the video production field without a lot of effort are kidding themselves. It isn't the equipment that makes the production; it's the content and preparation. Video Safety Training: What You Really Need to Know, by Chuck Rea.
http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=496&cha_id=4

6. All safety concerns deserve a response, even the ones you perceive to be minor or can't answer. If you don't follow up on concerns raised by your workers, they may stop reporting their concerns. Safety Leadership: The 3 Factors of Effectiveness, by Jason LaBarge.
http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=530&cha_id=4

7. Many new supervisors are thrilled to be promoted, but are unprepared for how the new role changes the relationship they once had with their co-workers. They want to continue being "one of the guys," but it just doesn't work that way. For the safety of your crew, you need to make sure your requests aren't challenged. You need to change how you communicate with your crew. A Script for New Supervisors: How to Change the Talk from Co-Worker to Leader, by Dennis Corby.
http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=545&cha_id=4

8. Ignorance is not bliss! This is especially true of safety. And safety information is not to be hoarded. New safety supervisors must learn to ask for help and then to share what they learn. Advice for New Supervisors: Lessons from a Career in Safety, by Reggie Brown.
http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=550&cha_id=4

9. It seems that more often than not, the moment a safety trainer stands up to speak, the trainee yawns. Fortunately, there are at least a dozen ways to stifle the yawns. Training the Trainer: A Dozen Do's for Daily Discussions, by Jonathan Klane, MSEd., CIH, CHMM, CET.
Part 1: http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=627&cha_id=4
Part 2: http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=632&cha_id=4

10. The goal of a safety incentive program is to change unsafe behaviors, reinforce safe behaviors and improve morale. However, unless it is properly implemented a safety incentive program may lead to feelings of entitlement and failure to report accidents. To succeed, you must thoughtfully identify what actions you want to encourage. Safety Incentive Programs: How to Make Them Successful, by Carroll Higdon.
http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=641&cha_id=4

11. One of the best ways to come up with ideas for safety improvements is to just seek out your workers and listen to what they have to say. How you "sell" these nuggets to management requires a little bit more creativity. The Art of Safety: How to Come Up With & Sell New Safety Ideas, by Art Fettig.
http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=651&cha_id=4

12. Desperate times call for desperate measures. If a workplace fatality is the only thing that will change your workers' complacency, then maybe you need to "kill" someone - in simulation, of course. Battling Complacency: Staging a Phony Fatality to Prevent a Real One, by Ralph B. White.
http://www.safetyxchange.org/article.php?id=682

THE TALK OF OUR TIMES

2007: The Words of the Year

By Catherine Jones

It's time once again for every editor's favorite event: the annual release by dictionary publishers of their Word of the Year. Here are the winners for 2007:

Merriam-Webster: w00t
A somewhat controversial choice, w00t is really an acronym consisting of two letters and - gasp - two numbers (those are zeros in the middle). Popular in the online gaming community, w00t, which originally meant "we own the other team" is now an accepted expression of joy. Example: w00t! Gaming lingo's made it into Merriam-Webster!

Oxford University Press: locavore
Coined a few years ago by some residents of San Francisco, a locavore is a consumer who eats only locally produced food.

Catherine Jones:
Here are my choices for Word of the Year. After searching the Internet (including the fun sites of www.buzzwhack.com and www.urbandictionary.com), I came up with five. Let's see if you can guess them based on the definition. So here's the Catherine Jones Top 5, in reverse order of preference:

Number 5
Definition: The process of being scanned by a metal-detection device, usually at an airport security station.

Word: Wanding.

Number 4
Definition: The act of searching for and requesting individuals to be your buddy on an online social network.

Word: Friendquest.

Number 3
Definition: When media provide excessive coverage of an insignificant event.

Word: Smotherage

Number 2
Definition: To do nothing and have nothing to do.

Word: Zerotasking

And my choice for Word of the Year, drumroll please. . .

Number 1
Definition: A high-five without contact, usually given where a high-five isn't possible, such as over the phone or online.

Word: Wi-five

Wi-five everyone. It's time for the holidays. May yours include hours of zerotasking. (And if you're traveling, I hope the wanding is brief and not the subject of smotherage.)

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