When I work outside Australia and New Zealand, I am left pondering ‘what if’ questions about training on the global scale – questions like:
Can you gain an industry training benchmark/standard across countries when you have so much diversity, different political interests and different perspectives? Is there a moral responsibility for global companies to raise the standard of training in countries they work in, particularly safety training? Think of the recent spotlight on the Bangladesh garment industry and the well-known local retailers that sell their goods.
These questions arose when I was invited to speak at the 2nd International Skills Conference (Transforming the Skills Workforce through Vocational Training) in Malaysia in June as part of the Victorian Premier's Trade Mission to Asia. The conference featured case studies from Australia, Asia, Europe and the UK. My session was on Safety Dimensions accredited training success in the construction industry – however more on that at another time.
One case study that got me thinking was from William Angliss, presented by Wayne Crosbie. We learned that in 2015, after 5 years of preparation the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Economic Community will implement the free movement of goods, services, investment and importantly, skilled labour throughout the ten ASEAN countries.
Wayne presented a case study about how his organisation created a common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum in preparation for a mutual recognition agreement across borders. They built a framework and standard for those working in the tourism sector that all countries could adopt to create a ‘common accreditation language’ that could be acknowledged across borders. This was a massive undertaking requiring extensive consultation. Read more about the program>>
Clearly the next step is the support in implementation, however.…
This got me thinking – if William Angliss and the ASEAN Secretariat can collaborate on standards for a tourism curriculum that cross-borders – as safety professionals, what can we learn?
When labor is ‘cheap’ and plentiful, the risk perception is low, or there is unskilled labour doing jobs due to skilled labour shortages, do multinational companies, and international training organisations have a moral obligation to awaken the countries they work in to become more mature in their safety thinking?
Continue to full article
Melissa Williams is the CEO of Learning Dimensions Network, the parent company of Safety Dimensions & Leadership Dimensions.
To contact Melissa click here.