Watching Me, Watching You

the Search for Safe Supervisory Practice

Ensuring the safety of work-based learners was a priority for the Learning and Skills Council. Ensuring that health and safety issues constitute a key part of the curriculum for work-based learners is one important component in ensuring learner safety.

However, research has shown that supporting the transfer of learning about health and safety from the learning setting to the work situation, a key aspect in ensuring safe behaviour, is also the weakest.

This research indicates that the types of factors identified within models of safety culture are present in good practice organisations, although not all aspects were present in each organisation.

Perhaps of more importance is the fact that the research revealed that safety culture theory largely ignores issues to do with the development of health and safety awareness and responsibilities in learners in the workplace and training locations. Given that these are among the most vulnerable individuals this omission needs to be addressed.