management training

In this part two of my blog series on obesity and driving.  In Part 1 of this blog series I discussed a study (1) that examined normal weight and obese truck drivers based on BMI.  The study showed that severely obese drivers were 43% to 55% more likely to crash than were drivers with a normal BMI.  This is a striking correlation between weight and driving accidents.  Reading this study caused me to do a little more research on obesity and driving which is how I came across this second study:  Driver obesity and the risk of fatal injury during traffic collisions (2).

Are you aware of the National Prevention Council?  Its formation was part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.  The council is chaired by the US Surgeon General and the other members are the leaders of 17 federal departments, agencies and offices.  The council’s purpose is to promote prevention and wellness.  The council released its National Prevention Strategy in June 2011.  According to Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, the strategy will “move us from a system of sick care to one based on wellness and prevention”.  She goes on to say, “We also know that many of the strongest predictors of

We’ve all probably experienced presentations using PowerPoint.  Too often, the use of PowerPoint is poorly done which is how the phrase “Death by PowerPoint” came to be.  An article in the July issue of Ergonomics in Design, Evidence-Based Human Factors Guidelines for PowerPoint Presentations, provided tips for improving the comprehension and appeal of PowerPoint.  I was aware of most of the points given and thought I’d pass on some of the key ingredients to a successful PowerPoint slide.

I’m going to continue my blog series about why employees who’ve received safety and/or ergonomics training still don’t do the things they were trained to do.  It’s been my experience that there are at least four main reasons for people not to follow through on what they’ve been taught.  In my last blog I talked about habits.  Today, I’m going to cover the second common reason:  perceptions.  Perception means the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.

Part 2 of They’ve Been Trained, So Why Do They Still Not Do (fill in the blank)?

In my previous blog I asked the question, “Why Do Employees Still Not Do What They’ve Been Trained?”  It’s been my experience that they are at least four common reasons why employees don’t do what they’ve been told.  The first one I want to focus on is habits. Habits are a behavior that we repeat and repeat without even thinking.  For all habits, the brain-body connection is well worn in.  We do it without thinking so to stop doing it requires us to think about it.

Have you ever seen an employee continue to do some “unsafe act” or not use the safety equipment provided to them just after they’ve been trained in the new policies and procedures?  If you have you’re certainly not alone.  Unfortunately, this is a common frustration of safety professionals everywhere.  I’ve personally experienced this on more than one occasion, especially early on in my career.  I’ve also had colleagues ask me if this has happened to me and what I’ve done about it.