Revision challenges

This wasn't quite how I imagined my revision week. Sitting with steaming cups of hot coffee whilst I poured over exam questions, with Debussy playing in the background. Not sitting next to an 8 year old, explaining fire extinguishers to him so that he can test me. This would be the week the children choose to be ill. Not the same day of course. One on Monday, one on Friday.

I'm not sure which topic to revise this afternoon. Perhaps, since we've started cycling to school this week, we should look at risk assessment in more detail...

Some action at last

The last two sessions have been better. Last week we did some hazard spotting exercises. OK, so the hazards we were being asked to spot weren't relevant to the topic under discussion. We were supposed to be dealing with fire in the morning and chemical and biological hazards in the afternoon, and the hazard spotting exercise (presented in Powerpoint, of course) was mostly construction site hazards. But we had to do something. We had to engage our brains. Then this week we had a mini-practice for our practical exam. No preparation by the tutor it seemed as we didn't have any forms to complete. But we walked around the outside of the building and back in the front door, spotting slippery surfaces, unmarked and blocked fire escapes and combustion hazards on our way. Good wake-up activity after sitting in heavy traffic for longer than normal. In the afternoon we had a video on manual handling. I've complained before that the tutor seems to use videos in order to take a rest (or normally a phone call) but on this occasion we were given check sheets to complete whilst we watched the video. At different stages we had to identify and classify manual handling hazards. An excellent use of video. Oh, but I forgot to mention. The video and the check sheets were provided by one of the other students on the course, and not the tutor….

PS As I was getting into my car to go home, I noticed two of the other students doing their little bit to reduce the combustion hazard outside the hotel by removing some of the log pile from outside the front door. Every little bit of risk reduction helps…..

There must be another way...

So we started NGC2. My brain hurts. Whilst I understood most of the NGC1 topics (risk assessment, culture, safety management etc) I could cope with the limits of the teaching technique. When I found my mind wondering off to other matters during an anecdote which had little to do with the PowerPoint list on the screen, I could at least read the book and see what stuff we were supposed to be covering.

But now we’re tackling the big stuff. Things like mechanical handling. Hoists and lifts. During his third lifting anecdote of the afternoon I lost it. I had no idea what he was talking about. Banksmen, slinging, accessories. My brain was crying out for a picture of what he was talking about. He missed another opportunity for active learning. Suppose he drew two sketches – one showing how this lifting equipment should have been used, another showing how the miscreant worker was using it. Then ask us what could go wrong and why. I might have learnt something then.

I came across another NEBOSH trainer today who really seem to understand there are other ways to learn. Obviously, I can't recommend them from their website but search for "NEBOSH plasticine" and take a look for yourself!

Half empty or half full?

So we've reached the end of NCG 1, the management of Health and Safety. Although I’ve found the teaching method less than inspiring, I do feel it's been worthwhile. There’s no rocket science in NGC 1. It's stuff we pick up in the process of working with health and safety. But it's stuff we might normally have difficulty explaining in a coherent way. Like we all know the difference between civil and criminal law don’t we? But can we list 6 differences, including maximum penalties for each? I don’t think I’ve learnt any thing completely new, but I feel I have a better structure for explaining what I already knew. For example, we can all agree that organisations should do health and safety, but structuring an argument for it around moral, legal and financial reasons is more convincing than "because we should"; I could previously have rambled on about "safe systems of work", but breaking it down into safe environment, safe equipment, safe material and safe people helps to prompt a more comprehensive description, and show that it needs more than common sense to get it right.