Learning Is State Dependent – Safety Speaker John Drebinger
Thanks For A Great Week
What a great week! First, as a safety speaker I had the privilege of giving a keynote presentation for the Enform Petroleum Safety Conference in Banff, Canada. What a great event! I was able to share my keynote version Would You Watch Out For My Safety?™ to the entire conference. Thank you to the conference organizers and staff. I will be posting video clips to my website later next week. Second, I traveled to Battle Mountain, Nevada to speak at a Newmont Energy power plant, which was in the process of an outage. It was a kick doing the meeting right next to the turbine. There is something magical about being able to speak right where people work. I especially love speaking at turnarounds and outages as I usually speak before each shift and in the tent set up for briefings. We ended the day with a great lunch, tri-tip, chorizo sausage and salad. Awesome and I still was able to burn off 7 pounds of fat this week because I planned ahead.
The other powerful thing I love about such events is they allow me to share your safety vision with all the contractors who are temporarily on your site to get the job done. In addition to the training and briefings you give them, I am able to drive the message home and give them the “how to” of watching out for the safety of others. That brings us to this week’s topic – “Learning is State Dependent”
Learning is State Dependent
Years ago, I learned a technique that helped people learn more effectively. It is based upon the premise if you learn something in a particular physiological position and state of mind you will be able to remember it much easier in the same physical position and emotional state. In my work with the Boy Scouts, I used this technique to help some of our scouts pass their drivers license test. One scout had taken the test twice and did not want to fail again. To help him, I pointed out in California you take the written test standing at a small counter and fill out the test sheet. Up until then, he had been studying for the test on his bed, the sofa in the living room or some other situation. I told him to read the drivers manual one more time and this time do it while standing at a counter. He did and the next week passed with flying colors.
Tailgate meetings, and job site safety briefings are so powerful because of this phenomenon. When you discuss the specific safety issues at the site of the work to be done, they are learning in the same location they will be using the information. The challenge is often times these briefings are not looked on with the value they deserve. Make sure the people you have conducting them realize the positive impact they are having on the safety of their fellow employees. Help them to do the best job possible.
If you would like to have me come and be an outstanding safety speaker at one of your outages or turnarounds, please give Diane Weiss a call at 209-745-9419 today.
Yours in Service,
John Drebinger
