DCHAS-L Discussion List Archive

Robin, You noted that: "In the UCLA case, we don't really know if the young person had been told to wear a lab coat, not to wear synthetic materials, what to do when clothing was on fire or that a different method was warranted for handling this material. UCLA did not do a good job of documenting training, so the assumption is that she was untrained."

Well, I disagree. There was good reason to believe she was never even in a training session and the school did not have procedures for handling these materials in place to train her on if she was in a training session. Please go back to the LADA. Sections 5 & 6 explain what was missing in the training and in UCLA's program and section 7 says what must now be put in place. But I don't even want to argue about 5 & 6. I want to get past what was missing at UCLA and start a comprehensive discussion of what we should be putting in place.

OK If we accept your incorrect premise that Sangji was fully trained but the training was just not documented, what are people physically doing to better document and track training? Can we type a student's name in a computer base and see everything they have attended and/or done on line and when they did it? Are all the outlines of training subjects, tests scores, etc., also there? Or have you got some better way to do this?

If you say training is complicated because the students come from diverse backgrounds, what are you physically doing to identify and bridge those gaps? Are trainings provided in different languages? (This also is a CalOSHA and OSHA requirement.) Are there intake interviews or questionnaires that identify deficiencies in previous experience or knowledge to be addressed? Or what?

Are you developing videos on special hazards like the one discussed in the LADA? How are you identifying the subjects that need video treatment? Or what?

If you went to SCHEMA as you say and got all kinds of great ideas for improving your program, what are a couple of these? How are you implementing them? Maybe we can all learn and even help.

All I'm asking is please, please don't tell me any more that we're all working hard on it in a positive way. And don't tell me anymore about how you are changing the safety culture so everyone believes that safety is important. Terrific. I believe you.

Instead, tell me how you are translating all that hard work and cultural good will into physically getting the knowledge and skills into the heads of these diverse groups of people so they can actually work safely and respond to emergencies. Good attitudes are not equivalent to skills and knowledge.

Oh dang. I'm through. I know when I'm beat.

Monona