Twenty eight years ago, when slides and audiotape were the high technology of the day, my wife and I started a company to produce training programs on videotape. At that time a great deal of our work was devoted to transferring existing safety programs from the slide/audio format to 3/4 inch videocassettes. Not a very effective use of the medium, but the perfect way for me to learn how new technologies could help training efforts in an industrial environment. Let me share with you what I've learned and how you can apply it to today's use of technology in safety training.

How Adults Learn

Adults don't learn the way children do. Children learn from experience. Adults apparently don't. Otherwise, they wouldn't constantly repeat the same mistakes. If adults did learn from experience, there would be no need for safety departments, safety trainers or, for that matter, safety videos.

Instead, adults tend to look for comfortable, less strenuous ways of learning things that won't tax their abilities too severely. These learning patterns are much like water: They find the path of least resistance, go with the flow and try to reach a depth of knowledge that's acceptable to the organization, using the least amount of effort. Apply this knowledge to video production and you have a useful training tool.

The Rise and Fall of Video Training

Video is an excellent training medium. Used properly, it can outshoot a standup lecturer by a factor of 6 to 1 and consume a lot less capital in the process. It's portable, easy to use and universally accepted.

But used improperly, video can be a train wreck! When small format videocassettes arrived on the scene, industry took on video training with a vengeance. Many companies installed television studios that rivaled anything the big networks had ever built. They hired producers and crews with all the expertise of a Hollywood film company and manufactured flashy programs as good as the best prime time shows on television.

The philosophy seemed to be that if employees could remember the latest antics of their favorite television star, they would remember the safety message contained in a program produced the same way. However, injury and incident rates didn't decline.

Everyone agreed the medium was not delivering the message! (Sorry, Mr. McLuhan.) (Editor's Note: As I'm sure most of you know, Marshall McLuhan was a 20th century scholar and literary critic famous for his utterance "the media is the message.") Much of the wind went out of the sails of the in-house producers and their budgets began to shrink accordingly, many of them packing it in completely. The price you pay for technology abuse.

Megabucks were thrown at the technology, while in many cases the content and method of delivery were ignored. Adults remained adults and continued to learn the same way they did before this new technology hit the scene. It was soon discovered that people could sleep sitting in front of a television, just as easily as they could in a classroom.

Don't Blame the Medium

Our business rode the video tide, but we didn't lose sight of the fact that video itself was not the message. It was only the medium and it could be as easily abused as any other. We have never been experts in safety. We rely on the experts to provide the correct program content. We are experts at making video programs that deliver a message and help people retain the knowledge contained in them. We learned the hard way, through trial and error. After all, we're adults!

Eventually, we learned that programs had to be short enough to prevent cognitive overload, but long enough to deliver the message. In the early days we could get away with a 20-minute program and get 85% average retention rates.

When the time between commercials on network shows went from 20 minutes to 10 minutes, our audience of adult learners sheepishly followed; the maximum length for 85% retention was reduced to 10 minutes.

Beyond Video - The Medium Evolves

Today, we have moved into the world of multimedia - that is, a moronic computer entered the room and got into bed with text, video, audio and still images. But the same problems remain. No matter how flashy the image or upbeat the music, the new medium is still not the message.

The interactive use of video, audio, stills and graphics makes the computer-based training system extremely flexible and interesting for the end user. Add some well developed software and you have a training tool with phenomenal power. But can this new medium be adapted to develop techniques that accommodate the adult mindset? Let's see:

• Short, interactive, easy-to-understand "chunks" of knowledge = path of least resistance
• Quick quizzes to reinforce the learning = going with the flow
• A final test of the person's retention level = the right depth for the organization
• Get a high enough score and Presto! the moronic computer will print a certificate = least amount of effort

Conclusion

There's one advantage to this medium that we didn't foresee when we started using it. Adults actually enjoy the interactivity. It seems to keep them awake just long enough to get the message into their long-term memory, where it might be accessible on the job. Nothing will ever be perfect, mainly because people aren't. But this has to be as close as we can get as humans. We just hope this technology doesn't get abused, too.

SUMMER SAFETY

Hot Tips for the BBQ

Unwatched BBQs can ruin more than a meal

By Catherine Jones

With national holidays being celebrated on both sides of the border in the next few days, it's timely to discuss with your workers the safety aspect of a popular summertime ritual - the BBQ.

According to the US Fire Administration, every year BBQ grills cause approximately 6,500 fires. The peak month for grill fires? July.

The top ignition factor, accounting for 43% of grill fires, is mechanical failure or malfunction, such as part failure, leak, break or lack of maintenance. Other ignition factors include:

• Misuse of heat of ignition - such as lack of control of open fire and abandoned materials
• Misuse of material ignited - such as combustible material being too close to heat
• Operating deficiency - primarily leaving the grill unattended

The USFA believes that with proper maintenance, inspection and vigilance, many outdoor grill fires can be prevented. Here are some top BBQ do's and don'ts:

Do

• Operate BBQ outdoors only, 10 feet from house, garage and trees
• Maintain your BBQ by replacing rusted or worn hoses and fittings
• Test for leaks and check tubes for blockage
• Keep lid open when lighting gas grill, to prevent flash off from gas build-up
• Turn BBQ off if you smell gas and don't attempt to relight until the leak is fixed
• Keep alcohol away from grills
• Use baking soda on grease fires - not water - and keep the proper fire extinguisher handy
• Cap lighter fluid immediately and place it a safe distance from the grill

Don't

• Leave an operating barbecue unattended
• Move an operating BBQ
• Wear loose or flowing clothing while tending to the BBQ
• Use gasoline or kerosene as a starter
• Store LP cylinders indoors
• Store spare cylinders near the grill or appliances

In case of fire:

• For propane grills - turn off the burner
• For charcoal grills - close the lid
• For electric grills - turn off power

If the fire involves a propane tank:

• Leave it
• Evacuate the area, and
• Call the fire department immediately (911)

Do you have a summer safety tip you'd like to share with the members of SafetyXChange? Send them to catherinej@bongarde.com and let us know if we can use your name and company name.

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