Photos by Susan Zachem

GCIU Vice Pres. Edward J. Toff, left, talks with lead trainers, from left, Rob Theisen, education director for Philadelphia 14M; Pres. Daniel W. Jernigan of Nashville 513S; and Joe Norton, chairman of the Seattle Times chapel of Seattle 767M.

During a discussion at the train-the-trainer course in Milwaukee are, from left, Joe Anderson, Ron Westmoreland, and Michael Kaufman of The Labor Institute and Kirk Kenyon of Boston 3N.

Kathy Timmins of Lancaster 138B and Richard Williamson of Erie 73C act as presenter and scribe during a module on reproductive hazards.

The GCIU planted the seeds to grow grassroots safety and health programs in local unions with a week-long intensive train-the-trainer course facilitated by The Labor Institute.

The 31 GCIU participants in the course, which was held in Milwaukee, learned both technical information on safety and health topics and how to conduct adult learning programs. They gained valuable experience by leading co-participants through the modules of the course. This experience prepared them to return to their locals to train their co-workers and managers in workplace hazard awareness and prevention.

The International's shift to broader participation in safety by local members was endorsed by delegates at the union's Fifth Quadrennial Convention. The program was funded by a grant to GCIU under the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program of the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The course was developed by Joe Anderson, Paul Renner, Ron Westmoreland, and Michael Kaufman of The Labor Institute, headquartered in New York. Helping to develop the curriculum for the GCIU course and assisting with the training course in Milwaukee were GCIU lead trainers Daniel W. Jernigan, president of Nashville 513S; Joe Norton, chairman of the Seattle Times chapel of Seattle 767M; and Rob Theisen, education director for Philadelphia 14M.

Westmoreland said the foundation of the training course is the small group activity format that has proved most successful for adult learning and three core values. These values are respect for co-workers and trainers; sharing the power between trainers and participants; and working collectively within training groups and, on a higher level, within the union and workplace.

The small group activity format involves participants in groups of about five working together to develop answers to scenarios and questions.

In facilitating the training course, Westmoreland, Anderson, and Kaufman stressed to the trainers-in-training the importance of maximizing the participation of those attending the program when they return to their locals to train others. "Remember this isn't about you," Westmoreland told them. "It's about the people in the classroom."

International Vice Pres. Edward J. Toff, who directs GCIU safety and health and education activities and who took the course along with participants from the locals, said the course was "so enlightening. I never realized that training could be done this way – in the small group activity method. It just makes it so much easier for the facilitator and for the people learning as well because there's never a wrong answer. It's always a positive thing. People don't realize how much they already know. This method brings out what they know and how smart they really are. It's a great system. A win-win for everyone."

One of the roles of the GCIU lead trainers, Theissen said, is to assist local trainers to conduct the course for their local union members. He pointed out that the method of the adult-oriented course requires two people: a "presenter," who describes scenarios and asks questions to draw out answers from participants, and a "scribe," who records participants' responses in large format print to fortify memory. "So we'll assist locals with their training, and we'll also serve as mentors for this group as they train their members," he said.

Norton said the course development "took a lot of conference calls" between the GCIU lead trainers and the Labor Institute members. He said they were assigned tasks to explore and build the curriculum around those areas. The final task is to condense the course into a day-long program that can be presented to local union members, he said.

Norton added: "I'm really pleased to change people's attitudes about how they think about their workplaces – not blame the worker but look at the source of the problem" so the solution can be put to the employer.

Jernigan said he was excited to become a lead trainer because he works in a plant "that's really big on safety and health. . . . I'd really like to make a difference. A lot of plants are not up to where we are. I'd like to see everybody get as far as they can with 'safety first.' With this program, I can not only make my plant safer but I can take it into other plants to help them."

Safety topics

In addition to learning how to train others, participants were exposed to a thorough exploration of safety and health areas. They learned broad concepts, including systems of safety that can help protect workers. These safety systems involve design and engineering, such as chemical substitution and ergonomically correct equipment and processes; mechanical integrity, such as inspections and preventive maintenance of equipment; mitigation devices such as machine guards and check valves; warning devices, such as alarms; training and procedures; and human factors, such as ergonomics, staffing and overtime, stress, and personal protective equipment.

Of these, Anderson said, design and engineering is "the highest level in safety."

Provoking a great deal of discussion within the work groups and the whole class was the module on human factors – an area that generates controversy as employers often use behavior to blame accidents on workers. However, Westmoreland and Anderson stressed that human error is rarely the root cause of an accident. Instead, a thorough investigation usually uncovers a design, engineering, training or other management practice failure that leads to the human error.

Westmoreland noted: "As safe as we can possibly be there are still accidents. We need our workplaces to be safe first." To this end when investigating accidents, he said, "ask why a worker made a mistake."

Participants learned how to diagram and use a "logic tree" to pinpoint where systems break down to cause an accident or create a health risk. They worked on exercises designed to improve their investigative skills related to safety and health situations.

Other technical areas covered in the course included repetitive stress injuries; emergency response; lockout/tagout; interpretation of material safety data sheets in conjunction with the National Institute for Safety and Health's "Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards"; confined spaces; reproductive hazards; and "hot work" hazards during grinding, welding, electrical, and other flame or spark-producing operations.

"Your training is going to inspire some 'want to' in your local," Westmoreland told participants. "The more empowered workers are the more involved and active they are. . . . We want people to walk out of the classroom fired up and ready to do something."

Future and current trainers gather in Milwaukee for the GCIU's first "train the trainer" safety and health program.