Posted By Danny Swygart Verbally communicate the safety documentation to them (e.g. Toolbox Talk) and record.

Posted By joedukeries ensure they always work with a partner who is literate.however this must meant that there collegue has to be aware of the problem.

Posted By DW Thank you for all your comments. But...... .......the problem that I have with this is that the operators are not aware that we know they cannot read very well so we are posed with the problem of approaching them without singling them out.

Posted By steven bentham I know of an inspector who undertakes two little tests to see how much of the safety message has transfered: First test: He asks the operator of the machine to explain the main safety rules of operating the equipment, then to actually show him how it works. If can do this well and it has been achieved by tool box talks by a supervisor then the view of the inspector is that you have complied with the key points of HASAWA. Second test: He takes the complicated risk assessments, method statements to the same operator and supervisor and asks them to explain what they mean in job terms. If they cannot do this, this may indicate that you have not complied with HASAWA. Comment: Many people have difficulty with reading, some safety professionals even have difficulty understanding risk assessments! I have always held the view that the method statements and tool box talks should be designed for those that actually carry out the work, if they cannot understand it they may do the work in a different way than you would want. Stick to the KIS idea "keep it simple"

Posted By Sally Although you only mention 2 people it is likely that a number of your staff have difficulties reading and writing which you may not be aware of and all communication of information should be done bearing this in mind. If you look at Goverment statistics a percentage of the population as a whole has some difficulties. I have worked in a couple of industries where the literacy levels were generally not high. Many of these people were very skilled at the jobs they did but struggled with anything involving 'paperwork' Techniques I've use that have worked have been to ensure that documents are written in simple straightforward terms. Also developing simple safe systems of work rather than expecting all employees to read the complete Risk Assessment. We also experimented with picture based safe systems of work - very easy to do with a digital camera. Pictures of what to do and what not to do can be posed. As others have mentioned using toolbox talks etc works well, along with getting supervisors to reinforce key safety messages verbally. For training courses I used highly interactive ones where the learning was mainly by discussion and group exercises rather than overheads. From this it was possible to judge whether employees had taken on board the relevant info. Assessment of competency was by whether they could do the task correctly rather than by completing a written test. Hope this is of some help.