Research to improve the efficiency of the safety training-1

INTRODUCTION

This paper is a short resumee  of a  material developed for iNTegRisk- with the title ”Research regarding an efficient framework for the development and the dissemination for Specialist Courses for Romanian learrners” including author  views regarding the design, development and testing of such an e-learning prototype.

Educational design will be the main tool for conception and design.

It offers:

-An approach that seeks to enrich the learning experiences of all students

-A collaborative and consultative process that facilitates the development of curriculum development at the program and course level

-A process to extend  existing teaching approaches and further develop your teaching expertise

-A process of reviewing or revising existing courses.

Using Educational Design means:

-Diversifying the  approach to teaching through planning, facilitating, assessing and evaluating student learning

-Supporting the course design through development of learning objectives, graduate attributes, learning activities and assessment tasks

-Focusing on student needs and developing strategies to respond effectively to them

-Building interesting and varied learning resources

-Incorporating educational media and communications technologies in the learning environment

-Identifying and manage goal setting and timelines for course development or review

-Locating experts who can assist with other specific needs by introducing to other education and development professionals

-Collaborating in educational research projects

-Encouraging ongoing reflective practice and professional development

-Expanding understanding of educational principles and practice

 CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EXISTING STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS 

  

The main identified problems are:

• The general Health and Safety concepts in Romania- at the Competent Authority and also at the specialists level are yet more or less tributary to the former Soviet theory regarding Health and Safety as distinct components in the work process. We are not familiarized yet with- for example- process safety as distinct from the general occupational safety concepts.
• The interface of the course must be familiar with Romanian expectations.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EXISTING CONTENT

A masteral program in Health and Safety could be an objective by itself in development and mantaining. At this moment, there are a lot of masteral programs in H&S in Romania that are offering essentially the same competencies- and these competencies are not exactly what a would be user is expecting from such a program. The main deficiencis of Romanian masteral programs in H&S are listed below in the table 1.

Table 1

No.	Weak point (deficiency)	Observations
1.	Masteral programs in H&S have no specific goals	All the analysed programs have a degree of generality that is of no help for the future students
2	Masteral programs in H&S are centered too much arround legislation	Safety legislation is continously changing. In this respect to focus too much on the existing legislation would ensure competencies to assure conformity with legislation but not wider knowledge.
3	Masteral programs in H&S are not teaching risk identification and risk evaluation	One of the first steps of H&S practice is risk assessment. Even well known methods as Hazop are not studied as needed.
4	Masteral programs in H&S are not teaching risk management	The ALARP concept is virtually not known; also, modern management methods are not studied.
5	Masteral programs in H&S are not oriented towards the development of a safety culture , not for the future masters nor for their employees	The colaborative approach based on safety culture is not much used.
6	Masteral programs in H&S are based too much on theory	Research in H&S at Romanian level is inerently limited. Instead of being centered on practice and solving specific problems the masteral courses are very theory oriented; after graduating, the master had a lot of  theoretical knowledge but could solve very few health and safety problems at workplace
7	Masteral programs in H&S are not teaching efficient occupational accident analysis methods	The analysis of occupational accidents could offer invaluable experience. This experience is not available for the future masters that are not working in Labor Inspection. Occupational accident analysis is treated as a non-important matter
8	Masteral programs in H&S are not including economic aspects	The theoretical approach at this moment at the Romanian level is that H&S is dealing exclusively with occupational accidents; loss problem is neglected
9	Masteral programs in H&S are not using European and international knowledge	Developments at European and international level are not well known; if known and not entered in the common practice of the Labor Inspection or of the safety experts inside the enterprise these developments are generally ignored. New concepts are very difficult to implement because they are not taught, understood and there is no commitment for them.
10	Masteral programs in H&S are ignoring field knowledge and experience	There is a lot of field experience and empiric knowledge developed in the form of best practice procedures- that is not used.
11	There is no cooperation between H&S masteral programs from different universities	In this respect, a lot of content is just taken from outer resources if considered as fit for masteral programs
12	There is no integration between H&S masteral programs and engineering or management post-universitary programs	H&S is generally an isolated specialisation, not being linked either with engineering practice or with management post-graduate courses
13	There is no space for future implementation inside the enterprise for H&S developed competencies	With a few exceptions (generally multinational companies)

COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE-AS A FRAMEWORK TO POST-GRADUATE HEALTH AND SAFETY LEARNING

Communities of practice(CoP) have a positive impact on the development, commitment and

general well-being of learners, especially at post-graduate levels.A positive approach towards the development and continous upgrading of a H&S masteral program would be

committed to identifying existing communities of practice and seeding and supporting new

ones. The aim is to develop communities of practice that enable authentic and

contextualised experiences of professional learning – about teaching and learning – in ways

that help university teachers encounter, explore and enact innovative practice relevant to

their specific teaching and learning contexts.

The development of a teaching community must be organic, in the sense that it very much

depends on what suits those who want to form the CoP. Some CoPs are developed primarily

through face to face contact, some are virtual communities and some are both.The ideal masteral H&S CoP  would include face to face contact and also virtual communities. The idea is to provide all interested staff with the opportunity to engage with a community in a way that meets their needs and fits with other commitments. This includes regular teaching fora, where staff can meet to discuss particular areas of concern or interest, such as

e-learning, internationalising the curriculum, and so on. These meetings could provide both

the seed and the nourishment for the community to flourish. From these, there could also be

developed:

• Collaborative research or development projects

• A repository of good practice materials and case studies

• A network of peer support or mentoring.

The meta-Community of Practice (meta-CoP) is open to all the stakeholders (tutors, students, etc.)  who facilitate communities of practice, or are interested in doing so.
The meta-CoP:

-supports the development of CoP facilitation skills

-provides a reflective space for evaluation, action research and theoretical development, and publications related to CoPs

-supports the continuing development of CoPs as an integral component of staff development

-supports and develops participants’ knowledge and skills through a blended model of engagement, meeting face-to-face up to ten times a year and maintaining a virtual presence all year