268539 Evolution of the small group activity: Moving from the superficial to the critical

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Thomas Estabrook, PhD , The New England Consortium, University of Massachusetts - Lowell, Lowell, MA
Bridget E. McGuiness, CET , The New England Consortium, University of Massachusetts - Lowell, Lowell, MA
Over the past decade we have designed and used Small Group Activities (SGA) in hundreds of health and safety courses based on OSHA Regulations. Reflecting on our use of the Small Group Activity Method (SGAM) we recognize that several initial somewhat uncomplicated activities have evolved over time into activities that challenge and support students to think more critically about their workplace and for them to offer more complicated and nuanced critiques of and solutions to problems related to their workplace health and safety. Many changes to our SGA have been based on students' responses during the class activity and also to course evaluations.

At times students' responses to the health and safety issues presented in SGA have seemed simplistic and have shown a lack of understanding of systems of safety and their role in creating a safe workplace.

Our SGA have evolved in an effort to support participants to look for a root cause of an incident whether it be a near miss or a fatality and to then identify an appropriate prevention strategy to implement.

Learning Areas:
Occupational health and safety

Learning Objectives:
Review a small group activity and follow it's evolution over a two year period in providing health and safety strategies. Articulate the importance of developing participatory training activities for adult learners that reflect adult learning theory.

Keywords: Workplace Safety, Safety Training Materials

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have participated in the development, facilitation and revision of the small group activities upon which this abstract is based. I have participated in gathering information for use in this presentation and paper.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.