For each stated objective / learning outcome statement below explain which are attainable (and why) and which are measurable (and why). (Be aware that attainable need not necessarily be readily measurable and those objectives that may not be easily attainable could possibly be measurable.
1. There will never be any accidents on this job.
Accidents are unavoidable. They are not anticipated nor expected to happen and therefore it is impossible to predict whether or not a workplace will have an accident or not. This makes this particular objective unattainable.
Although it seems that this particular objective is measurable, the statement lacks information as to what kind of accidents it is referring to, thus it will be difficult to measure. This particular objective is neither attainable nor measurable.
2. The accident rate can be reduced.
This objective is vague in the sense that it does not present any information as what to kind of accident it is pertaining to and how much it will be reduced to. It has to provide more information for example: what kind of accident and in what context, what actions will be done to reduce the rate and what percentage the reduction will be. It is a tricky statement which, at first, seems like both attainable and measurable, but on further analysis, quite the opposite.
3. Employees have the proper attitude about safety.
For this particular statement, it is difficult to quantify how employees will develop a “proper attitude”, so therefore this is neither unattainable nor measurable. There should be a clear description of what a “proper attitude” is, as this can be subjective from one person to another. There should also be concrete measures on gauging when a person exhibits a proper attitude. It needs to identify what a person needs to do or show by having a “proper attitude”.
4. Employees can be taught to operate equipment according to standard operating procedures.
This objective focuses on what actions the subject (employees) will receive instead of what they will do. The action (teaching employees how to operate according to standard operating procedures) is achievable after all, it specifies exactly what is needed to be done however, it is quite a challenge to measure this action, especially since there is no specific action required from the employees to show that they have been taught. This makes this objective attainable but immeasurable. It needs to specify a concrete action from the employee to demonstrate what they have been taught to measure the effectiveness of this objective.
5. Employees appreciate the safety procedures identified in the safety handbook.
This objective is difficult to measure and it fails to demonstrate how it can be attained. It is difficult to determine the “appreciation” of an individual, so this particular objective should state a clearer, more solid action for the employees to show that they appreciate the safety procedures. The immeasurability of this objective makes it unattainable, although on the surface, it seems as though this is an easily attainable objective. It needs to be more specific, in terms of what actions the employees need to do, to show that they have appreciated the safety procedures.
6. Employees are expected to complete the “incident reports” as a follow up to an accident on the job.
This statement provides a clear and achievable objective. The actions that the subjects (employees) need to do are identified clearly and specifically. They are expected to complete an activity and the reason for this is also stated (as a follow up to an accident on the job). However, the measurability of this objective is questionable. On one hand, completing an incident report is an action that can be measured, on the other hand, the objective does not state how many incident reports should be completed, and if an incident report should be completed after every accident on the job.
7. Employees can be trained to correctly perform each task for their position.
The objective does not specifically says what kind of training the employees need to undergo and does not give any information on the tasks involved. It does not give any criteria or standard in order to measure or compare the performance of employees, i.e. whether or not they are correctly performing the task, therefore, this particular objective is both unattainable and immeasurable.
