Communication Test

Communication Test

From Chapter Five of Michigan Mine Safety MSHA Compliance Manual

1. When an accident occurs the company should: a) ___Determine who is at fault and assess a fair penalty, b)___ Search for the root cause and correct the problem, c) a & b ____

2. Accidents are, for the most part, the result of improper employee behavior. True ___, False ___.

3. The best way to find out about hazards in your workplace is: a)___ Do the required walk-around inspection, b)___Read all MSHA regulations, c)___ Establish open communication with all employees and convince them to discuss their safety-related concerns.

4. For the most part, employees get hurt as the result of having a bad attitude, which is reflected in their work ethic. True ___, False___.

5. If the supervisor warns an employee about a hazard in clear English and the employee gets hurt by the hazard, it is clearly the employee’s fault. True ___, False ___.

6. When explaining something to an employee, you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70 %___, or 90 %___.

7. If you give an employee something to read, you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70 %___, or 90 %___.

8. If you explain something to an employee and draw a picture you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70 %___, or 90 %___.

9. If you show an employee something you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70___, or 90 %___.

10. If you get an employee to explain something back to you, you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70 %___, or 90 %___.

11. If you get an employee to do something and explain how he/she did it, you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70 %___, or 90 %___.

12. Safety improvements are most likely to result from: a)___ very detailed accident investigation, b)___establishment of the cause and determination of who is to blame, c)___ open-communication to determine hazards, prioritization to determine which ones to focus on, and continuous improvement.

13. The decision to make safety improvements should: 1)___ require approval by as many levels of management as possible, 2)___ require approval by as few levels of management as possible.

14. An accident which results from an employee behavior-related cause, is definitely the employees fault. True ___, False ___.

15. Supervisor behavior has only a very small effect on safety in the workplace. True ___, False ___

16. Clearly-written, step-by-step procedures that are safe should be followed for all tasks that have associated dangers and these procedures should never be changed. True ___, False ___

17. Competition between employees or employee groups is a good way to motivate employees to safer behavior. True ___, False ___.

18. Giving awards is a good way to promote safe behavior. True___, False ___.

Communicatyion Test - Questions, Answers, Discussion

Once You Understand the Reasons for The Answers Given, You Have the Opportunity to Make Great Progress in Both Safety and Efficiency.

1. When an accident occurs the company should: a) ___Determine who is at fault and assess a fair penalty, b)___ Search for the root cause and correct the problem, c) a & b ____

2. Accidents are, for the most part, the result of improper employee behavior. True ___, False ___. Employee behavior may be the immediately-observable cause, but employee behavior is usually determined by the importance management places on safe and healthy workplace engineering controls and practices.

3. The best way to find out about hazards in your workplace is: a)___ Do the required walk-around inspection, b)___Read all MSHA regulations, c)___ Establish open communication with all employees and convince them to discuss their safety-related concerns. Experienced employees know best where the hazards are. They are the ones who, if not intimidated or belittled by supervisors or peers, can best describe dangerous jobs and close calls they have experienced, which is fundamental information for identifying needed improvements. If they fear that such discussion will lead to belittling remarks, they will withhold the information to protect themselves.

4. For the most part, employees get hurt as the result of having a bad attitude, which is reflected in their work ethic. True ___, False___. Accident statistics in the mining industry indicate that the most conscientious employees (those that companies promote into supervisory positions) have a high frequency of fatalities. These are the people who feel the need to get the job done and are often willing to risk their health or even their life to make it happen. They may also feel they are the only ones that can undertake dangerous tasks without getting killed.

5. If the supervisor warns an employee about a hazard in clear English and the employee gets hurt by the hazard, it is clearly the employee’s fault. True ___, False ___. You will understand this better after you read the answers to questions 6 through 11.

6. When explaining something to an employee, you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70 %___, or 90 %___.

7. If you give an employee something to read, you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70 %___, or 90 %___.

8. If you explain something to an employee and draw a picture you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70 %___, or 90 %___.

9. If you show an employee something you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70___, or 90 %___.

10. If you get an employee to explain something back to you, you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70 %___, or 90 %___.

11. If you get an employee to do something and explain how he/she did it, you should expect him/her to retain: 10 %___, 20 %___, 30 %___, 50 %___, 70 %___, or 90 %___.

12. Safety improvements are most likely to result from: a)___ very detailed accident investigation, b)___establishment of the cause and determination of who is to blame, c)___ open-communication to determine hazards, prioritization to determine which ones to focus on, and continuous improvement. While MSHA requires the company and inspectors to conduct detailed accident investigations, detailed accident investigation can easily turn into a “blame another – protect myself” game. In general, when an accident occurs, most people learn to keep silent to avoid losing or hurting friends, being blamed themselves, providing information for attorneys looking for easy money, etc., making this the most difficult time to look for the unbiased information required to make needed improvements.

13. The decision to make safety improvements should: 1)___ require approval by as many levels of management as possible, 2)___ require approval by as few levels of management as possible. Think of it this way – if the first person can say yes or no you may have a 50 % chance of getting the job done, if his boss can say yes or no, it may drop to 1/2 of 50% or 25 %, if his boss can say yes or no it may drop to 12.5 % and so on. Furthermore, the likelihood of the suggestion dieing on someone’s desk due to the person’s other commitments increases with the number of approvers. Also the time it takes for an important safety suggestion to be implemented increases with each level of approval required. This is discouraging to the person(s) who made the suggestion who may conclude that “nobody really wants or cares about safety in this company”.

14. An accident which results from an employee behavior-related cause, is definitely the employees fault. True ___, False ___.

The employee may not be suited to the task assigned (nobody can do everything well). The employee may not be trained in the hazards and correct operating procedures for the task assigned. These are management responsibilities. However, even if the employee knows all of the safe procedures (management’s responsibility) and is told by management to be safe, any employee can read between the lines. For example, If an employee gets frowns or negative statements from the boss or co-workers about taking time to be safe or about suggestions to improve safety, or if he sees that those who take dangerous shortcuts are in management’s favor, the employee will soon learn to modify his/her behavior. An employee wants his boss’s approval regardless of whether or not he likes the boss. When the employee becomes discouraged, he/she will probably stop making suggestions and begin to eliminate steps required to do the job safely. To avoid this common occurrence, managers must take the time to communicate in a positive way with employees to arrive at safer and more efficient ways to do a job (two heads are far better than one). Over the long run, this strategy will pay big dividends in improved safety and efficiency as well as in the employees becoming contributors to both safety and efficiency. The employee will feel rewarded knowing that he/she is respected by management and is making a positive contribution to the company that is appreciated. The result will be a happier, safer and more efficient workforce.

15. Supervisor behavior has only a very small effect on safety in the workplace. True ___, False ___

16. Clearly-written, step-by-step procedures that are safe should be followed for all tasks that have associated dangers and these procedures should never be changed. True ___, False ___ The first part is true, but continuous improvement is the only way to a safe workplace.

17. Competition between employees or employee groups is a good way to motivate employees to safer behavior. True ___, False ___. Competition between employees or employee groups destroys cooperation in achieving company-wide goals and leads to obstructive behavior to achieve individual goals.

18. Giving awards is a good way to promote safe behavior. True___, False ___. Awards for meeting lost time quotas etc. are likely to lead to employees not reporting accidents or near misses that, if not communicated to the right people, could result in more devastating accidents at a later date.