ABET improves health and safety in workplaces and on worksites in line with the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act [www.gov.za/documents/occupational-health-and-safety-act]. For further reading on legislation pertaining to health and safety in the country and relevant initiatives, refer to https://www.ilo.org/safework/countries/africa/south-africa/lang–en/index.htm. South Africa is a member of the International Labour Organization [www.ilo.org]. Operating since 1919, ILO is the only tripartite United Nations agency. It consists of governments, employers and workers of more than 180 member countries. They collaborate to establish labour standards; develop policies; and devise programmes that promote decent work for all women and men.
ABET removes barriers to communication
ABET helps to remove barriers to communication that lead to ambiguity and accidental distortion of the message. Adult literacy training specifically addresses semantic blocks to effective communication of health and safety information. These include poor literacy skills that prevent your employees from understanding the meaning of words or symbols. Cultural differences and excessive use or a lack of understanding of technical jargon and abbreviations also contribute to semantic barriers.
Ambiguity and accidental distortion of health and safety messages are among the primary causes of “near misses” and accidents in the workplace and on worksites. They are exacerbated by the many other barriers to effective health and safety communication. These include physical, psychological, organisational and technical barriers. A greater understanding of all of these will help you to remove them in your workspaces. This will ensure that your health and safety messages are being effectively communicated to employees. In this way, you are reassured that your health and safety protocol is understood and being acted upon by all employees.
This is especially by your low-skilled workers who usually perform jobs that carry greater risks than those undertaken by their more skilled counterparts. It is these employees who are in the heart of the action. They perform the actual work on the factory floor; at the rockface; at heights on construction sites; and within close proximity to heavy machinery. Yet, it is these workers who often lack the basic literacy skills that they need to perform at optimal levels. This includes the ability to complete their duties in a healthy and safe manner.
ABET imparts important skills
ABET, including adult literacy training, imparts important verbal communication and listening, as well as reading and writing skills. These enable your employees to understand health and safety information that is communicated to them verbally or in writing. The spoken and written word are two of the most common ways companies communicate health and safety information in workspaces.
According to research, 70% of mistakes in the workplace are due to poor communication. Among these are “near misses” and accidents that lead to major injuries and even fatalities. This is over-and-above those that cause downtime and waste due to misunderstandings as a result of inefficient communication.
Extensive research has already been undertaken into the correlation between literacy and health and safety in the workplace. Refer to https://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/resource-collections/profile-201; https://www.brantskillscentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/All-Signs-Point-to-Yes-Literacys-Impact-on-Workplace-Health-Safety.pdf and https://lohp.berkeley.edu/right-to-understand/ for more reading on the subject. It is clear that poor literacy skills can jeopardise employees’ safety if they cannot understand health and safety regulations and the reason for compliance. Notably, low literacy skills also prevent workers from obtaining information about their rights to a safe workplace with obvious negative ramifications.
ABET empowers employees
ABET, including adult literacy training, empowers employees with knowledge that they need to improve their lives. This includes their ability to reason and make sound decisions based on continued communication on health and safety in the workplace.
Continued communication ensures that members of your team are constantly aware of risks and can take the necessary precautions. For example, your team members need to know how the correct footwear will reduce the likelihood of slip-and-fall accidents on factory floors. Employees who are properly informed about slip-and-fall risks will also play their part in ensuring that walkways are free of debris and are not cluttered. They will also know why they need to avoid certain areas because they pose a high risk of slip-and-fall accidents. Employees also need to know where to use handrails and handholds.
Communication can also help to avoid the many machinery-related accidents that occur in the workplace. Your employees will know why it is important to avoid loose clothing; keep long hair tied back; and check machine guards frequently. This is in addition to the importance of always wearing the correct personal protection equipment. Awareness through effective communication will also help to avoid vehicle-related incidents, another common cause of injuries and fatalities.
Employees need to be alerted to potential malfunctions and made aware of the correct certifications for machinery, equipment and tools. Machine operators and spotters also need to be able to work well together, facilitated by effective communication, to avoid accidents. There are many more examples of how effective communication can mitigate common and other accidents in workspaces.
Four levels of ABET
Employees who complete all four levels of ABET have a sound grasp of English, the formal language of business and learning. This helps them to understand what is being communicated to them in the spoken word.
Verbal communication is suited to conveying a simple piece of information and it is commonly deployed during health and safety training sessions and meetings. During these sessions, employees learn about potential health and safety risks in workspaces. They are reminded about the importance of observing health and safety protocols. This is in addition to the need to report hazards and unsafe practices that they notice in workspaces.
One of the advantages of the spoken word is that it is less formal and enables the exchange of information quickly and efficiently. Referred to as toolbox talks, health and safety-related discussions undertaken before shifts can be very effective in reducing accidents and “near-misses”.
However, recipients with poor language and dialect skills will not be able to understand the message that is being relayed in this manner. This is irrespective of how well the message has been articulated by managers and supervisors in the spoken word. Poor language and dialect skills of recipients are among the many barriers of effectively communicating health and safety messages in the spoken word. Others include learning disabilities; an inability to listen attentively; and lack of understanding of technical language and abbreviations. Adult literacy training successfully addresses all of these communication barriers.
ABET imparts reading-comprehension skills
ABET imparts the reading-comprehension skills that your employees need to understand health and safety information that is communicated in the written word.
The common ways of communicating health and safety messages in writing to employees is via memos and emails. However, the latter has become the preferred method of communicating in writing in the workplace. This is considering that it enables an important message or instruction to be communicated to large groups of people quickly and efficiently. Meanwhile, many companies are now also using communication apps, such as WhatsApp, to better communicate with staff. This is considering that it enables large teams to communicate in real time. In this way, issues can be dealt with swiftly before they escalate. It also facilitates greater interaction between all team members and transparency.
Other ways that companies communicate essential health and safety information in writing is via their intranets, newsletters, bulletins and payslips. Notice boards are also used widely by various industries to communicate health and safety information in writing. Many companies also dedicate a sizeable section of staff handbooks to health and safety protocol.
An advantage of all types of written communication is that they provide a record of the message that can be referenced at a later stage. This is especially important when communicating about important matters that relate specifically to Safety, Health, Environment and Quality.
However, the level of efficacy of these methods of communication is dependent on the recipients’ reading-comprehension skills. Employees who have completed adult literacy training are able to read text; process it; and understand its meaning. This skill is dependent upon two, interconnected abilities that are developed and honed by ABET. This includes word reading, which is an ability to decode symbols on a page. The other is language comprehension, which is an ability to understand the meaning of the words and sentences.
ABET learners develop writing skills
ABET learners also develop their writing skills. They are, therefore, also able to participate meaningfully in health and safety surveys and polls. This is important feedback. Bear in mind that your employees have intimate knowledge of your processes, and their insights can help to bolster health and safety protocol.
This is complemented by the feedback that your employees are able to provide on the effectiveness of health and safety procedures in the spoken word. Adult literacy training develops the confidence that your employees need to speak up and participate deeply in health and safety initiatives. These include safety committees; toolbox talks; backup training sessions; workshops; and focus groups.
They are also able to communicate effectively with safety representatives and members of staff who represent employee safety, or in question-and-answer sessions. Enterprising companies even include health and safety as a topic in performance reviews, an interactive discussion between employees and their managers. This demonstrates to employees that they take health and safety very seriously.
However, it is also important that supervisors and managers communicate effectively with their employees to ensure healthier and safer workspaces. They do this by communicating in a clear and concise manner. Moreover, they use simple language, avoiding excessive jargon and technical terms wherever possible. When communicating with employees, they are also aware of their tone. They avoid sounding angry or defensive as this can escalate a situation. Rather, they remain calm and constructive when communicating with team members.
A leading ABET provider
Triple E Training is a leading provider of ABET to industries that rely heavily on unskilled or semi-skilled labour. These include agriculture and agri-processing; mining; construction; and manufacturing.
Our adult literacy training is helping companies operating in these industries to develop competent employees. They are, therefore, able to perform at their peak and, importantly, do this in a healthy and safe manner.
Learn more about Triple E Training and our unique approach to ABET. www.eee.co.za
