Effective Electrical Safety Program Training in Multi-Lingual/Cultural Environments

Abstract

The worlds’ global economy presents many challenges for companies seeking to establish a consistent electrical safety program. Immigration into the US has resulted in a workforce where English is not the first language. As well, foreign upbringing and schooling bring cultural and experiential differences from US nationals that can lead to very different paradigms and interpretation of programs and training. Alternatively, US companies attempting to establish a global presence in foreign locations can be met with an even more pronounced multi-lingual/cultural challenge. Many foreign cultures do not embrace electrical safety standards or do not have any significant enforcement toward the same. Western corporate cultures attempting to establish an electrical safety culture in foreign locations are often met with significant barriers. These barriers include multinational workforces utilizing labor from multiple impoverished countries with separate languages and cultures. Developing effective training programs that successfully impart the necessary safety requirements for skills and knowledge can be a seemingly insurmountable task. Many imported expat laborers from impoverished areas of the world feel they are expendable and uncared for, and expect to work unsafe and be treated poorly. These workers bring with them a lack of basic safety understanding and awareness due to the conditions that may exist in their original home country. This paper discusses some of the techniques utilized to overcome the above-mentioned barriers in electrical safety training. Chief among these techniques is creating an interactive environment between the trainer and all of the individuals—ensuring that no cultural group or individual fails to grasp the necessary electrical safety understanding due to a language or cultural barrier or combination of the two. Discussed is the use of workshops, hands-on exercises, prizes, contests, and a respect for culture, that are used to break down the walls.