Introduction
Occupational health and safety involves the development of a culture that promotes health and safety within the workplace. Promotion of healthy and safe working conditions within the workplace is important both to the employees and to the employer, as well. To the employees, the probability of suffering harm from their line of occupation is reduced, additio0nally, the risk of contracting a medical condition from their occupation is minimized. To an employer, the damage to the organization occasioned from OHS failures is minimized. Some of the liabilities that an employer can accumulate from poor OHS practices is insurance claims from employees harmed in their line of employment. Further, employees feel motivated when working in a safe environment, and the feeling of concern shown by the employer in enhancing their well-being serves as a motivational factor. From this understanding, promotion of OHS within the work place is an important undertaking for firms. It is the responsibility of the employer to provide the conditions for safe and healthy working environment; however, the workers need be sensitized on the importance of maintaining safe and healthy working conditions. In this respect, the employer is responsible for the provision of training and sensitization drives in attainment of this objective.
In many occasions, OHS training programs omit very important aspects without which, the entire training program is deemed ineffective .Ineffective OHS training programs lay emphasis on prevention of risks or recovered from the effects of the risk occurring. Identification of potential hazards is an integral part of the training program that many facilitators leave out. This mentorship plan is set to equip all participants with imperative skills and knowledge pertaining to risk management.
Background
Electrical hazards occur rarely in the majority of industrial operations. The rarity of their occurrence, however, does not diminish their potential as some of the potential hazards that employees are exposed to. The familiarity of electricity with everyone often leads to the assumption that everyone in a firm is capable of avoiding/ detecting faults with electrical transmitters and equipment. Domestic and industrial electricity supplies vary in the power they can hold in their lines. In this respect, workers need to understand the risks carried by electrical installations within their place of work. The passive nature of electricity handling in many facilities multiplies the risk factor for employees exposed to these installations. This mentorship manual plan seeks to elaborate on steps intended for the successful mentorship of workers towards safer handling and interaction with electricity.
Development of OHS mentoring plan with respect to electricity safety
Narrative
The idea to develop an electricity safety-mentoring program was introduced to the firm by the chief electrical engineer after attending a seminar organized by OHSA on electrical hazards prevention. He was startled at the realization of how unstructured safety procedures and cultures were at his firm. With the assistance of officials from officers from OSHA, he set up to introduce an electrical mentorship program rolled out to all the employees at the firm. The program was designed to operate on a shoestring budget with the major capital required being the willingness and contribution of the employees. It was difficult to convince the employees on how a graduated mentorship program would work. The idea of an employee being mentored and at the same time being a mentor proved challenging to some workers.
Statement of purpose and the long-term plan
The mentorship program will incorporate all the employees ranging from the technical assistants to the office workers. The awareness of hazards within the workplace by employees is of paramount importance in ensuring the safety of the employees against the hazards. Thus, the mentorship program seeks to inculcate a culture of safety concerning handling of electrical and electricity transmission equipment. The mentorship program shall be layered across a wide period with the employees given the chance to educate themselves on electricity safety. Assessment on their development proceeds on preset intervals where the success of the program is evaluated. The flagging off the project will happen in one week, all the participants will know the roles and assigned to them, and their respective mentorship groups. There shall be an assessment on the levels of awareness among the mentees on electricity safety knowledge before the commencement of the mentorship program. This will aid in fashioning a mentoring program suitable for individual employee requirements.
Recruitment plan for both the mentees and the mentors
The recruitment of mentees into the program shall be based on the departmental postings of the employees. The expected level of knowledge on electrical matters is evaluated, and the mentees assigned a mentorship program that builds on their existing level of knowledge on electricity. There shall be the subdivision of the mentorship programs on a graduated manner where the mentees with the least expected level of electrical knowledge being the eventual beneficiaries of the program. The chief engineer shall mentor the junior engineers, mainly on matters of policy. The junior engineers will mentor the technical supervisors on safety procedure and policy. The technical supervisors will mentor the technicians. The organization of the mentorship program in this way ensures that there is a downward flow of the most relevant and basic safety instructions to every group of mentorship.
Screening for eligible mentors
A screening process for possible mentors shall center on the individual competencies of prospective mentors. A preliminary evaluation shall be administered to evaluate the competency level of the mentors on electrical matters. The identification of possible mentors shall be based on the ability of a mentor to respond authoritatively on electrical safety issues raised in the evaluation. The mentors so chose are to mentor a level below on which they were evaluated. Mentees will be screened on competency, as well. The competency displayed on the preliminary evaluation shall be considered in the assignment of mentees to their groups. Those displaying high levels of safety awareness shall be assigned mentorship groups requiring mild instruction and assessment, during those displaying low levels of awareness assigned high intensity mentorship programs.
Training curriculum
During this process, the mentors will learn the safety standards emphasized within each level of mentorship. The standards shall be a hybrid of internally generated precautions against potential electrical hazards, and the action necessary in their elimination/ reduction, enhanced by the OSHA guidelines provided by the organization to each mentorship category. Mentors shall learn on basic adult training guidelines. Successful adults are driven individuals with individual goals and aspirations. The attitude developed towards an individual in their training determines the attitude they develop in the chances of cooperation with the program. The mentorship shall be modeled as a partnership amongst the employees towards improving their collective safety against electrical hazards in the workplace.
Matching strategy
Matching of mentees to appropriate mentors is a key pillar towards the success of this program. The program is fashioned to function based on volunteerism and cooperation rather than supervision and assessment. The mentors and the mentees therefore, have to be individuals with the probability to meet during other engagements, and have a well-developed relationship beyond the program. The mentor will be assigned as much as possible to groups of people they associate with regularly. Shared hobbies will be a consideration in the matching strategy. Common interests and similar behavior patterns amongst the employees will be utilized in matching mentors to mentees that they have a high chance of interacting with outside of the assigned mentorship activity hours.
Monitoring process
Monitoring the progress of the program will be important in ensuring its goals are being met. The submission of filled progress forms by the mentors to the project manager will be a tool employed towards attaining this goal. Further, mentee progress reports from each mentee, submitted to their mentors and subsequently to the project manager will indicate the success or otherwise each mentor/ mentee enjoys with their targeted objectives.
Support recognition and retention component element of the mentorship
This stage shall be the actual commencement of the mentorship program. Incentives enhancing electrical safety shall be offered on a departmental basis, to inculcate a culture of team effort in ensuring the safety. The mentorship shall utilize a formal event held annually, where the departments with the least reported incidence/ and or the most advanced safety measures and culture in place are rewarded. The mentorship program, at this point, shall embrace a celebratory rather than implementation strategy in motivating workers towards adherence to safety measures.
References:
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