eLCOSH : Tailgate Meetings that Work : A Guide to Effective Construction Safety Training

Tailgate Meetings that Work : A Guide to Effective Construction Safety Training

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Robin Baker, Robert Downey, Mary Ruth Gross, Charles Reiter

In California, tailgate safety training for workers in the construction industry has been required for many years. Too often the requirement is ignored altogether. Sometimes training is attempted, but it just isn’t effective.

Even conscientious employers who try to set up training programs can fall victim to:

Training on the wrong topic or at the wrong time. When a crew is pouring footings, why give them training on the hazards of paints and coatings?
Trainers and crews who lack interest and enthusiasm. Foremen and superintendents are construction professionals, not educators. Yet they are often responsible for tailgate training. They may feel unprepared, or they may feel that the training program gets in the way of the process of construction.

The result can be poor quality training that doesn’t hold the crew’s interest.

In creating the training program in this book, we have tried to provide tools that the foreman, superintendent, and workers can use—tools that tie training to the work actually being done, and that allow people who are not professional trainers to communicate effectively about safety. The training will raise workers’ awareness and invite them to become active players in keeping the job safe.

We have also tried to develop a program that links tailgate training directly to Cal/OSHA safety requirements. For each training topic included here, the foreman or superintendent is asked to inspect the site for related hazards before the training begins. Summaries of Cal/OSHA regulations are provided to guide the inspection. This process of information gathering should ensure that the material presented in the training session is specific to the particular job site. It will make the training “real” to the crew.

Cal/OSHA now requires each construction employer to have an effective Injury and Illness Prevention Program, with tailgate training as a key component. By following the methodology of the training program in this book, an employer is complying with both the spirit and the letter of the law. Labor and management can work together to make safety an integral part of the process of construction, not just an “add-on” that gets in the way.

This program is the result of three years’ work. We held a dozen training sessions with construction workers, foremen, safety directors, union representatives, and others in the industry, seeking to find out what makes tailgate training effective. We feel strongly that the format we developed will be of tremendous value to the construction industry and its employees.

Robert Downey
Associated General Contractorsof California

Charles Reiter
State Building and Construction Trades
Council of California, AFL-CIO

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