Citation

Benner L. Hazard Prev. 1990; 26(6).

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, System Safety Society)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In 1971, an accident investigation exposed major problems with safety training that contributed to 40 casualties in a railroad hazardous materials accident. The instructor died in the accident. The immediate problem was the content of the training, which raised risks instead of reducing them. The flawed training contents flowed from misdirected safety objectives, major flaws in the curriculum development process, and an ineffective instructional performance feedback process that would have disclosed the other flaws.

Subsequent personal experiences with safety training course development in other fields has disclosed that the 1971 situation was not unique. Once the issues are recognized, misdirected safety objectives, flawed course content development processes, and ineffective feedback can be observed in most safety courses. These experiences suggest that, at the least, safety instructors need to 1) acknowledge these problems, 2) invest the time needed to gain the knowledge and skill needed to overcome them, and 3) insist on performance feedback systems to help improve their safety training effectiveness.