Date of Award

January 2015

Degree Type

Open Access Thesis

Document Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Safety, Security, and Emergency Management

First Advisor

E. Scott Dunlap

Department Affiliation

Safety, Security, and Emergency Management

Second Advisor

Earl H. Blair

Department Affiliation

Safety, Security, and Emergency Management

Third Advisor

Barry S. Spurlock

Department Affiliation

Safety, Security, and Emergency Management

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify whether visual-based safety training for non-English, Spanish speaking employees in the meat industry is more effective than non-visual training. The literature review included in this thesis studies the known barriers to training Hispanic workers, the existing training methods out there for safety training, and the best forms of safety training for non-English, Spanish speaking workers.

The methodology in this research evaluated the effectiveness of visual-based training versus a non-visual training for non-English, Spanish speaking employees in the meat industry. Two training sessions with a total of 30 volunteers was organized in order to evaluate which method would be more effective. One group was presented with a visual-based training while the other group received the exact same information read out loud with no visuals to accompany. Each participant was given the same 15 question quiz at the end of their session to find if one group retained more information than the other.

The results of this study did find an observational difference in quiz results between the two groups, showing the group with the visual-based training performed better, but there was no statistically significant difference between the two. However, further discussion finds that education level of participants and the small sample size could be a negative factor. The results do open up the opportunity for further research.

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