I once attended training for fleet drivers who frequently tow trailers. During discussion of attaching the trailer hitch to the truck, the instructor asked if the operators crossed the safety chains under the tongue when connecting. Everyone nodded yes. From the back of the room I asked, “Who knows why we cross the chains?” No one knew.
Here’s another example that shows the importance of knowing the why as well as the what in safety training. It has to do with preventing deadly explosions and a condition called “odorant fade,” where that rotten-egg odor we add to gas may disappear. In 2008, a natural-gas blast tore through a Hilton Hotel that was being built on the San Diego waterfront, damaging several floors and injuring 13 workers.