The primary objective of the Leadership Basics course was to facilitate team leads in the identification and development of their personal leadership skills and abilities.  Through lecture, a variety of individual and small group exercises, and a personality assessment tool, participants were given the opportunity to enhance their effectiveness as team leads by learning and practicing how to give constructive feedback, coach employees to improve performance, utilize appropriate recognition strategies, and build and motivate a powerful work team.

Employers who want to maximize the effectiveness of their training programs need to understand what keeps adults motivated and engaged in the learning process. Some key points to keep in mind when designing employee training programs include:

• Presenting the goals and benefits of the training up front creates a solid starting point and helps motivate employees to participate more fully in the program. Adults learn better when they know where they are going and why. Also, it is important to recognize that employees have their individual interests and goals, and to encourage participants, as much as possible, to incorporate their goals and individualize the training to meet their needs.

• Learning experiences are most effective when the material is relevant, practical and applicable to the job. Successful training mirrors the workplace, uncovering the issues and challenges employees are experiencing, and creating scenarios and practice activities based on real-world experience. Incorporating problem solving exercises, case studies and other hands-on experiences helps capture the attention and interest of adult learners, stimulate thinking and improve retention of information.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently organized a National Safety Stand-Down during the week of June 2-6, 2014, as part of an ongoing focus on fall prevention in the construction industry.  The Safety Stand-Down program was developed as a voluntary opportunity for companies to help raise awareness about the hazards of falls, which account for the highest number of deaths in construction, by addressing the issue of fall hazards directly with their workers to reinforce the importance of fall prevention.

Fall protection has topped the list of OSHA's most frequently cited standards for the last three years, and more than one third of all fatalities in construction are the result of falls.  OSHA began a campaign in 2012 to reverse this alarming trend by providing employers with lifesaving information and resources on how to plan ahead to prevent falls, provide the right equipment for their workers and offer training in the proper use of that equipment.