ECN Forum Forums Safety Discussion and News Safety News and Product Recalls What's different now?

Also,
how many state apprenticeship programs have adopted imparting any safety regulations to the newbees ???

Sparky,
I can't speak for anything but VA, but we have a rather large part of the first year devoted to safety, however, teaching the 4th year, I can't really say how much.

Also, 30 years ago (so I'm told, not being born yet.........ahem) the first 6 weeks of the IBEW was safety and first aid, course, all we had were rocks and sticks to work with then.

I really don't like some of the exorbitant costs of these safety courses i see in the mailings i get.
This secondary market rides on the shirttails of OSHA, having thier wares ready even in the ROP stage.
$600, $700 for one & two day courses is price gouging, especially given that all the code update instructors get an average of $60 a day per head.
So, in effect, this becomes the difference bettween yesteryear & today, the mandates have grown exponetially , as has this market.
For the fortune 500's who've tried to keep up the cost is controllable, for the average Joe opening his doors, hardly achievable.

Much of the safety training I've seen has been a paperwork matter much more than an educational matter.
We had a company come out on a regular basis at $200 an hour to give "safety meetings".
Most of the instructor's info didn't pertain to the work we perform (we're electricians, not roofers), and he was unable to answer most specific questions asked of him. We were given "tests" (answers given 1 by 1 as we filled the test out) with little cards given out when we "passed".
Weekly "Tailgate" safety meetings were given, most of the foremen just told the guys to "Sign this".
The contractor was perfectly happy with this setup, as he felt he had complied with the requirements ("It'll keep the insurance co off my back").
At least in this case, it's not all that much better than it ever was