The GCIU's safety and health training program continues to expand with a plant-wide training of some 270 people at the Cadmus facility in Lancaster, Pa.

Lancaster 138B Secy.-Treas. Kathy Timmins, who initiated the training at the plant where she works, said nearly everyone in the plant – including members of Local 138B and Reading 160M and management and office staff – participated in two four-hour sessions.

Since the GCIU's program is structured for small groups, Timmins said, the training was done in groups of about 30 people over a two-week period. "Everybody got paid for doing the training," she said.

Timmins said management and workers cooperated to rearrange shifts so everyone could participate. The company, which prints and binds medical journals, normally operates on three shifts. But, she said, the web pressmen worked 12-hour shifts to cover the next shift for training, for example.

Timmins said the training included every area of the GCIU program, except repetitive stress injuries, which the company plans to address separately. GCIU training topics include lockout/tagout situations; hazardous chemical handling; electrical and fire hazards; and confined space hazards.

"I think it went really well," Timmins said. "When people began hearing about it, there was a lot of negativity. They had the attitude of: 'Oh, another safety training.' But once they got into it, they really enjoyed interacting with each other. Everyone had a good thing to say about it afterward."

Timmins said it took about two years "and a lot of nagging" to persuade management to agree to the training, including reviews of the GCIU training manual by the company president and human resources director before they agreed. But once they realized the value, the support was there.

During the training sessions, Timmins tried something new for the GCIU's program. She compiled a list of safety and health concerns expressed by workers and presented the list to management. She said the "company is making attempts to work on those concerns. They have gotten some things done."

Rob Theisen, director of Philadelphia 14M's Andrew Gress Graphic Arts Institute, praised Timmins' effort in organizing the training and for moving the program to the next level in the plant with the list of concerns. "The best outcome is that things are being done and the company is moving forward," he said. "People are realizing that it doesn't happen overnight. They realize that the company has a long-term commitment."

The GCIU program began three years ago with a grant from the U.S. Labor Department for a safety and health "train-the-trainer" program. Theisen and Nashville 513S Pres. Dan Jernigan helped develop the curriculum in conjunction with project director Joe Anderson and senior staff member Ron Westmoreland of The Labor Institute. The four then trained a core group of GCIU local leaders and members to train others. So far, about 1,000 people have been trained.

Theisen said another important aspect of the training at Cadmus was the large number of trainers involved. Trainers at Cadmus from the core group included Theisen; Jernigan; Timmins; Atlanta 8M Pres. Dale Harrell; Gene Binda of Boston 3N; Rich Williamson of Erie 73C; and Dana Livingston of York 329C.

Jernigan said a unique situation arose at Cadmus because the group included hearing-impaired participants. The company paid for a person to interpret. Jernigan said the interpreter was so good as to be able to keep pace with cross-talk in the groups.

As a follow-up, Jernigan and Theisen said they have been in contact with the corporate safety director to possibly expand the training to other Cadmus plants.

Meanwhile, Theisen said, Harrell is working on company-paid training for Stephens Graphics in Atlanta, and Binda is organizing another training course for apprentices in Boston 3N. Safety training is required for that local's apprentices, but Theisen said apprentices talked up last year's training so much that this year, journeymen want to participate.

Noting this stepped-up activity for the program, GCIU Vice Pres. Edward J. Toff, who directs education activities for the International, said: "The whole program is going incredibly well. We've done more training than we ever expected to do. We've heard only praise and how much people have learned and how good the program is for companies and members alike."

Toff said, with the training of two Spanish-speaking GCIU members last year and the translation of training materials into Spanish, he hopes that the training of Spanish-speaking GCIU members will gain momentum. The program materials also are being translated into Vietnamese. Toff said he is seeking GCIU members who are fluent in English and Vietnamese to become trainers.

GCIU local unions, conferences, and contract companies that are interested in setting up safety training sessions can write Toff at GCIU headquarters: 1900 L St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Or phone 202-462-1400. Or e-mail etoff@gciu.org. They may also contact Rob Theisen at GGAI by phone at 215-533-8550 or rtheisen@ggai.com.