The University of Michigan (UM) has evaluated the UAW's health and safety training programs funded by the NIEHS since 1990. During this time these training programs have evolved from utilizing staff trainers to worker trainers to provide health and safety training to UAW members. As a natural progression, the union and the University of Michigan have experimented with worker trainers participating in program evaluation. Worker trainers participated in the design and conduct of a phone survey of training impact, and of an on-site survey of trainee perceptions of a large-scale program. Parallel with this process, these worker trainers from the UAW gained additional experience in evaluation methods through a multi-union collaborative project called the Self-Sufficiency Research Evaluation Project (SREPP). Results indicated worker evaluators had difficulty finding time to conduct phone interviews. For the on-site survey, worker evaluators were able to analyze data and give a highly successful presentation of results to trainees before they departed from the program. Worker trainers have a natural interest in evaluation; their "automatic" understanding of the needs of other workers confers advantages; structured time for data collection with provision of release time from their usual work is critical for their success. The incorporation of workers as evaluators is a key step toward the goal of worker empowerment.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to: 1. articulate the benefits of utilizing worker trainers in program evaluation. 2. describe how to devise an effective evaluation program utilizing worker trainers 3. apply the lessons learned from this project to other worker trainer based evaluation
Keywords: Evaluation, Workplace Safety
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.