BuildSafe California Tailgate Training Seminars: 2001-2005

Project Description

The Occupational Health Branch at the California Department of Health Services initiated the project BuildSafe California to help construction companies improve their safety programs in the area of tailgate trainings. Effective tailgate trainings are a critical part of a safe construction jobsite.

OHB conducted 25, 4-hour trainings throughout the state of California to build the capacity of contractors and supervisors to make better use of the Cal/OSHA requirement of doing tailgate trainings every 10 working days. The primary audience was small contractors, but medium and larger contractors and union representatives were also part of the 1,525 participants.

At the trainings, participants:

• Heard a contractor talk about why, how, and when to conduct tailgate trainings
• Learned about effective training techniques to improve safety presentations
• Assessed the quality of their company's tailgate trainings to identify areas for improvement
• Found out what Cal/OSHA is looking for in a construction safety program
• Received a tailgate training kit in English/Spanish including 23 Safety Break topic cards
• Received a certificate of course completion and other health and safety resource materials

BuildSafe California also produced a health and safety tailgate training kit.