Citation

Sinnott WR. J. Occup. Accid. 1976; 1(1): 69-84.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1976, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Approximately 10,000 students attend full-time basic engineering training courses in further education establishments in Great Britain.A study of the teaching of safety was made in respect of engineering workshop practice classes in order to explore whether the practical significance of classroom teaching was adequately demonstrated to students at a personal level; whether safety was taught in a positive way particularly in connection with skills which students would use in industry; and to show how safety teaching in engineering workshop practice classes might be improved.Strong evidence of inadequacy in safety teaching was found in the responses of 360 students in eleven establishments to a questionnaire/checklist on workshop procedures.Scores were awarded for 'safe/unsafe' responses to items dealing with five categories of workshop procedures which are generally recognised as good safety practice. The scores revealed highly significant differences in the several groups of students that were tested. The differences pointed to variations in the teaching of the lecturers concerned.The overall findings from the study suggested that safety teaching would be improved if (a) the safety knowledge of lecturers was improved and (b) if further education establishments insisted on positive application by workshop lecturers of the safety taught in the classroom.