MEMORANDUM

TO: Greg Busch, Interim Chief Risk Officer (CRO) UA State Wide
FROM: Danielle M. Dewey, Project Manager
SUBJECT: Measuring and Improving Safety, Learning from Accidents and Near Misses
DATE: December 4, 2016
CC: Brad Gilbreath, Ph.D.

As part of the upcoming 2017 Risk Management Effectiveness Initiative a request was
put out for volunteers to investigate and inform the department of Environmental Health, Safety,
and Risk Management with weekly memos. This is the sixth in a series. In the preceding week I
have spent time on the subjects of Safety Training and Mentoring, and Ergonomics. According to
Burke in 2006, "Safety training increases workers' knowledge, skills, and motivation with the
goal of employees performing safety behaviors more frequently and effectively and, hence,
experiencing less safety incidents at work. (Krauss, Casey, & Chen, 2014) Safety training is one
of our best tools to enhance safety within the University of Alaska System. Ergonomics is the
study of how to improve the fit between the physical demands of the workplace and the
employees who perform the work. (Cal/OSHA Consultation Service, Education and Training
Unit, 1999). We are already aware of ergonomic benefits within our university system, but
refreshers never hurt. The following are my observations and recommendations for best
practices:

Safety Training Transfer. According to Baldwin and Ford, training transfer is the
generalization of learned skills and knowledge to an employee's job following training as
well as the maintenance of new skill and knowledge use over time." (Krauss, Casey, &
Chen, 2014). As an organization we invest in training our employees whether it is safety
training or job specific continuing education. We need that training to transfer to their
regular routines. This is a known problem and while estimates vary, roughly half or more
of training does not transfer out of the classroom.

To improve this issue training should be designed with the following in mind. Safety
training should be interactive and experiential. When and how the training would be
used at work should be discussed, this will help to make that connection of relevance.
(Krauss, Casey, & Chen, 2014). Employees should know why they were picked for the
training, know why the training is important to them, to the organization." (Gilbreath,
Video: Safety Training and Mentoring ). As I mentioned in my blog, if the employee
finds the required training irrelevant to their job, as I do with chemical hazard training, it
is likely to go in one ear and out the other (Dewey, Contribution 11, 2016). If the correct
training is done early on in an employees career and designed in such a way that it will
transfer, there is a strong chance that there will be a lasting benefit. These employees
could be described as soft clay that are able to be molded into a sound structure,
(Merritt, 2016) not all employees will be moldable, but that doesnt mean that training
will be completely ineffectual.

Safety Mentoring. One way to help solve the training transfer problem is the use of peer
trainers. "A strategic system of training peer trainers is one powerful approach that can
accomplish many objectives simultaneously; this has been proven in many companies, in
a wide array of industries, worldwide." (McClellan & Pater, 2004). If an employee has to
leave a training and then train other employees or even their supervisors, the chance of
retention is higher. Peer training can have the following benefits: Boost credibility for
safety and for the organization Strengthen buy-in Enhance involvement Offload
managers and safety professionals Generate more effective solutions to longstanding
safety issues Develop "expert systems" Recognition Time efficient Reduce
organizational stress Reinforcement Availability for scheduling--and train new hires
as they come aboard Cost efficient Impact an organization's overall culture.
(McClellan & Pater, 2004).

We are an educational organization, we should absolutely model our training with the use
of peer trainers. We need to be very selective about selecting peer trainers, not everyone
is cut out to be a mentor. However, seasoned employees and line staff have a lot to add
to an organization in terms of their knowledge and experience. They are the ones carrying
out the core functions of the organization and could provide a lot of information to
administrative leadership about whats going on, whats working, whats not etc.
(Olson, 2016). As mentioned previously training needs to be relevant, by using peer
trainers they should already be experienced with the types of jobs that the employees they
are training do. This experience will help make the training relatable.

Ergonomics. We want to maximize our workforce, so we should maximize our fit.

Maximizing the fit reduces injuries, increases productivity, saves money, and improves
product quality and job satisfaction. (Cal/OSHA Consultation Service, Education and
Training Unit, 1999). Office design and lighting should be reviewed with thoughts to the
tasks and job being performed. (Kroemer, 2008) While there is an ergonomics program
in place, we should ensure that employees are more aware of it, and do periodic
ergonomic reviews. Perhaps after the initial six months for a new hire, and then on a
semi-annual basis for existing personnel. Of course, there can be a review done on
demand. One reason for this is that frequently when you are in a new position, you may
not feel secure yet and be inclined to Accept the world the way it is as a given
(Gilbreath, Video: Ergonomics) and not ask for help or consider the ways to improve the
situation. When reviewing ergonomics for a job, we should observe only one job at a
time, using one complete checklist for each job. (Cal/OSHA Consultation Service,
Education and Training Unit, 1999).

It may sound trivial to some but the layout, equipment, and dcor of our office can affect
our quality of life; in addition, well-being can also appreciably influence our productivity
at work. (Kroemer, 2008). Making ergonomic changes to improve employee comfort
can be a learning curve, everyone is different and so are there needs. The process may

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be lengthy and cost money. But in the end, the time and money will be well worth it
when employees are working without pain or strain. (Kelly, 2016).

While most of ergonomic education should be focused on the clerical type settings, it is
important that we cover more than that when looking at ergonomics. As the Easy
Ergonomics booklet points out, activities outside the workplace and other personal
factors can contribute to Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Alaska is a location that
while geographically remote, the people thrive on a wide variety of personal hobbies and
activities. As I mentioned in my blog, I am an artisan (Dewey, Contribution 12, 2016) as
are many others throughout Alaska. Our employees need to be aware that if they spend
the long winter months knitting, that can contribute to MSDs. The University System has
many employees that are in a clerical setting, which has very high risk for MSDs. People
should be trained specifically about what these are and how to prevent them. As an
employee you need to have awareness of what youre doing and you should listen to
your body, if something is feeling stiff then stretch, if something hurts then something is
probably not being done right. (Lincoln, 2016). A lot of importance needs to be placed
on MSDs because in the early stages, these are frequently treatable, however if they are
ignored until they become a serious issue, for example One back injury can have medical
costs and work comp of over 85K (Cal/OSHA Consultation Service, Education and
Training Unit, 1999).

Some areas and improvements that can be made are: reconfiguring a workstation,
ensuring that frequently used materials and tools are stored conveniently, ensure all
employees have a healthy level of comfort. (Cal/OSHA Consultation Service, Education
and Training Unit, 1999) These can be allowing employees to pick their own chair style,
keyboard and/or mouse style, allowing workstation options that may include adjustable
settings for sitting or standing, personal lighting choices, and control over the thermostat
when possible. If thermostat control is not an option, the allowance of small space heaters
and/or fans may be solutions.

To decide what to improve first, we need to make decisions based on:

Frequency and severity of complaints, symptoms, and injuries
Contributing factors or other problems you have identified in a particular task
Ideas your employees have for improvements
Difficulty of implementing various improvements
Your time frame for making improvements
Potential effects on productivity, efficiency, and product or service quality
Technical and financial resources at your disposal (Cal/OSHA Consultation Service,
Education and Training Unit, 1999)
Once we decide what we are going to improve then we need to prioritize the actions we
are going to take. The next step should be to brainstorm on the solutions. Effective
brainstorming includes:
Involving everyone affected by the problem
Listening to all ideas without criticism or judgment

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 Encouraging creativity and new ideasthe more ideas the better (Cal/OSHA
Consultation Service, Education and Training Unit, 1999)

I propose that the next step is to utilize the recommendations resulting from the 2017
taskforce to ensure that the University of Alaska system is best prepared to support strong
transfer of training and utilize peer trainers. We should also continue and expand upon our
ergonomic program. [T]here are both ergonomic and economic reasons to design offices to truly
fit their human occupants so that they can work efficiently and effectively. (Kroemer, 2008). As
always we need to do this with the support of our leadership and have improvements benefit the
entire organization.

Thank You,

Danielle M. Dewey

Danielle Dewey
Project Manager, TAACCCT
Mineral Industry Research Laboratory
Institute of Northern Engineering
University of Alaska Fairbanks

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Sources of Further Information
Cal/OSHA Consultation Service, Education and Training Unit. (1999). Easy Ergonomics: A
Practical Approach for Improving the Workplace. California: California Department of
Industrial Relations.
Dewey, D. M. (2016). Contribution 11.
Dewey, D. M. (2016). Contribution 12.
Gilbreath, B. (n.d.). Video: Ergonomics.
Gilbreath, B. (n.d.). Video: Safety Training and Mentoring .
Kelly, A.-M. (2016). Contribution 12.
Krauss, A., Casey, T., & Chen, P. Y. (2014). Making Safety Training Stick. Contemporary
Occupational Health Psychology: Global Perspectives on Research and Practice, 181-197.
Kroemer, K. (2008). Chapter 18: Office Design. In K. Kroemer, Fitting the Human:
Introduction to Ergonomics (pp. 317-348). CRC Press, Inc.
Lincoln, S. (2016). Contribution 12.
McClellan, P., & Pater, R. (2004, July). The Power of Training Trainers. Occupational
Health & Safety, pp. 96, 98-100.
Merritt, D. J. (2016). Contribution 11.
Olson, E. (2016). Contribution 11.