Training for a short distance run and training for a marathon both have different objectives. The short distance run depends on aerobic muscle ability while the marathon requires a different muscle ability involving anaerobic muscle. These are two different types of muscle. The greater the percentage of anaerobic or Type 2 muscle the more endurance a runner will have. All of us have Type 1 and Type 2 muscle fibers. Marathon runners and tri-athletes have a higher percentage of the Type 2 muscle mass in the critical muscle areas allowing them more endurance than the average person. This means when respiration cannot keep up with the exertion, the runner can fall back on a different metabolic pathway for muscle operation. This pathway can take a runner for the long haul.

Using Total Quality Management (TQM) techniques in safety and training for understanding rather than just reinforcing safety rules will make companies much more capable to manage and improve safety for the distance. Just as in athletics, training is critical to the success of an electrical safety program but training is more than telling. Just having safety rules is not good enough for the long haul. Even the best safety rules have many exceptions and certain circumstances make safety rules inadequate to protect workers. Development of thoughtful safety training and troubleshooting skills are critical to successful electrical safety training. Often electrical safety gets little resources in corporations, the reasons given are that the electricians are professionals or are hired with the right expertise and require little training. But the reality is a lack of knowledge of good electrical safety practices and the isolation of those in the electrical trade because their expertise can lead to accidents if the training the workers have received is inadequate. The average safety manager doesn’t really understand electrical safety and may leave it to the professionals, that being the electricians themselves, but the varying quality of electrical trainers and the growth of knowledge around electric arc, hazard assessment and electrical PPE leaves old training programs in the dust. As recently as 1995, safety standards for electrical safety were almost non-existent. This is one reason that electrical safety training needs diligence in refreshing.

The time tried method of apprenticeship passed down the principles of safety to the next generation. This meets some of the needs but as workplaces become more and more multi-skilled the need for more formal training and auditing of safe work practices becomes necessary. One cannot assume an engineer or an electrician or field service technician has the necessary knowledge to do the job safely. Companies must train and are held responsible for that training by OSHA, local agencies or by the court system. To illustrate this change one only needs to look at the changes in NFPA 70E: Electrical Safety in the Workplace. In 1995 this was an 8-page document covering mostly shock protection and in 2004 it was over 125 pages covering everything from shock and arc flash boundaries and PPE to barriers, lockout/tagout, job briefings, and much more. Many of these concepts were not used in safety training until 2000. Programs which have not been updated or inadequately updated could leave your workers and your company vulnerable. Contractors have added incentive to train since many more companies are looking for contractors who have updated training and excellent safety records to reduce their risk with the changing climate on “host employer” issues.

Looking at the history of the NFPA 70E standard we can see the growth:

• 1979: First edition only Part I (Installation Safety Requirements).
• 1981: Second edition added Part II (Safety-Related Work Practices).
• 1983: Third edition added Part III (Safety-Related Maintenance Requirements).
• 1988: Fourth edition minor revisions.
• 1995: Fifth edition updated Part I based on the recent NEC and made some additions to Part II.
• 2000: Sixth edition updated Part I based on the most recent NEC, made additions to Part II, and added Part IV (Safety Requirements for Special Equipment).
• 2004: The most recent edition made many significant changes including a complete reorganization into the NEC format. In the reorganization the most commonly used portions were moved to the front of the standard making it more user-friendly.

Too many companies just assume their workers know OSHA standards and never adopt a comprehensive safety program in the area of electricity even though electricity is the fourth leading cause of traumatic occupational injuries.

What do we need to do for safety training?

• Identify the hazards in your workplace.
• Develop or contract expertise in mitigating the hazards.
• Train workers on protecting themselves and others from the hazards.
• Model continuous improvement into your safety program by a specific process such as TQM or Six Sigma.

Comparing electrical safety training to marathon training provides some useful analogies. Marathon training takes into consideration all of the following?

• Individual differences- Workers respond differently to the same training. This is due to factors such as the individual’s initial “knowledge set”, personal characteristics, their personal commitment and their level of maturity.
• Adaptation- Is the way the worker responds to the training program. Auditing is the only way a company can measure how training is being adapted to a workplace. Additionally after safety training it can be useful to have regular meetings to discuss adaptation of the training and find other practical applications of principles learned. This can be done with toolbox talks while giving time for worker interaction and communication of “lessons learned”, near-misses and other intimate knowledge and capturing this “institutional knowledge” to share it through a “safety network”.
• Progression- The overload imposed on an athlete must be progressive. If a training program stays at the same intensity for a whole year, adaptations will only be evident at the beginning, as after this the body will no longer be overloaded. Making training progressive is a challenge. Audits can be an effective way and toolbox talks which repeat and vary the training and add depth to specific job situations is helpful. Another excellent means to do this is to allow workers to participate in hazard assessments and developing PPE and job safety matrices. These exercises apply job knowledge to many situations and allow for forethought before doing a job.
• Overload- For the body’s systems to make adaptations, they must be overloaded. Just taking part in an activity will not cause any improvements in fitness, as the body will not be stressed to a greater extent than normal. Workers need to apply principles in as many situations as possible to ingrain the habits. Having training in advance of a major shut down period so the principles can be applied and audited is a good idea. Auditing during times of “overload“ reveal the processes, procedures and other safety items which are not being used or are not working. Only auditing when workers are expecting the audit and in essence “performing for the audit” devalues the auditing process and reduces the value of information gained. Audits should expose procedures which do not work and identify refresher training needs in the workplace.
• Reversibility- The adaptations that take place as a result of training are all reversible. This is a key learning every company should address. Only audits, consistent enforcement and team accountability can prevent “unlearning” of the safety training.
• Specificity- Is the least complex training principle. In order for a training program to be effective it must be specific for the sport and position of the performer. Developing training programs for specific jobs is critical. In electrical training the industry may have specific classifications such as a utility may have overhead, underground, network, substation and generation specialties but in most industries we see the need for specialized training for operators, electricians, instrument techs, line-workers and multi-skilled maintenance technicians. Specific training saves resources and ensures the proper training for the worker.
• Variation- if training programs are repetitious, athletes can soon become bored and lose their motivation. Does training just become something the workers “have” to do or is it something they actually learn from? Varying training with inside trainers and outside contractors with different perspectives, knowledge-sets and training skills can help make training more effective. Sending trainers to seminars, skill development or material development classes can also be effective. Use of illustrations, exercises and different learning models can enhance training to the reduce the boredom factor. Alternating from on-the-job to classroom training will help workers avoid the boredom of repetition. Developing a skill matrix for evaluation and audit of safety behaviors and knowledge allows trainers to vary the method used for delivering the information while still focusing the training on the job specific skill.

Training for long term safety is one of the strategies forward-thinking companies employ to make their safety training more effective. Combining long term strategies such as Total Quality Management (TQM) practices, behavior-based safety models, and employee buy-in programs can develop a more comprehensive progressively improving training regiem. Programs which take advantage of employee expertise to eliminate unsafe practices and which base safety programs on risk, rather than simplistic rules, will make safety make more sense to the average worker, and support the continuing improvement of the safety program.

Hugh Hoagland , is an electrical safety consultant specializing in electric arc and PPE for ArcWear.com/e-Hazard.com. You may contact Hugh at hugh@arcwear.com or call him at 502-314-7158.

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