Thirty Days Meme: Day 5 - Wot I Learned
Aug. 29th, 2013 06:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitKestrel 337 asked what I had learned that was difficult. This past year I have learned that you are never to old to learn. To explain: up to last summer I was doing accounts work on two different sites for one organisation. I found the second site really difficult - personality wise, not figure wise - and decided that I'd resign from it (I had two separate contracts so that was possible). I told my boss on the first site of my plan and she offered me the health & safety job for the two days I would no longer have employment. I accepted and began a rapid learning curve.
I have no H&S background, but despite what many people think, a lot of what I do is applied common sense. It's amazing how much common sense isn't applied. Yes, I do go round saying "that is a fire escape, please do not leave boxes in front of it" but I always point out why it's important, especially because we work with adults with learning difficulties and it's important that if there was a fire they could leave with the minor of problems. I also do lots of paperwork, to ensure that everything is properly tested, fire alarms, smoke detectors, boilers etc etc. When I began my job there was no order, now everything comes to hand. Five months after I started this job we had a local authority health & safety inspection and all they found was two minor changes they wanted doing, which was a testament to all the hard work we had done in those months.
In addition to the learning on the job I did a three day first aid course, so I can now satisfactorily do CPR on a plastic dummy. My daughter, who's done the actual thing, assures me it's rather different in real life. I also did a four day Institution of Occupational Safety and Health Managing Safely course, which is a recognised qualification that comes with a posh certificate. It's the first time in very many years that I have achieved a formal qualification and not one that 18 months ago I would have had any thought that I'd be passing.
The actual learning for the course wasn't too difficult, but taking on something so completely new and different has been challenging. My children are both in their twenties and starting their own careers, so it seems a bit strange to be also finding a change in my own.
I have no H&S background, but despite what many people think, a lot of what I do is applied common sense. It's amazing how much common sense isn't applied. Yes, I do go round saying "that is a fire escape, please do not leave boxes in front of it" but I always point out why it's important, especially because we work with adults with learning difficulties and it's important that if there was a fire they could leave with the minor of problems. I also do lots of paperwork, to ensure that everything is properly tested, fire alarms, smoke detectors, boilers etc etc. When I began my job there was no order, now everything comes to hand. Five months after I started this job we had a local authority health & safety inspection and all they found was two minor changes they wanted doing, which was a testament to all the hard work we had done in those months.
In addition to the learning on the job I did a three day first aid course, so I can now satisfactorily do CPR on a plastic dummy. My daughter, who's done the actual thing, assures me it's rather different in real life. I also did a four day Institution of Occupational Safety and Health Managing Safely course, which is a recognised qualification that comes with a posh certificate. It's the first time in very many years that I have achieved a formal qualification and not one that 18 months ago I would have had any thought that I'd be passing.
The actual learning for the course wasn't too difficult, but taking on something so completely new and different has been challenging. My children are both in their twenties and starting their own careers, so it seems a bit strange to be also finding a change in my own.
