Mistakes are considered a normal part of any process, especially when you are just getting to it for the first time ever. Some working activities have more potentials for mistakes, while others, a little less. But what is important is that making mistakes are an inevitable part of every training process. However, not all mistakes have equal consequences. Some mistakes are so big they can lead to loss of life, body parts or great property. These are particularly seen in professions that involve direct contact with human life or heavy machines, for example, the medical profession, radioactivity centre, or a driving school.
Every profession or job has potential hazards or accidents associated with them. However, not all of them are inevitable. Most of them can be avoided. And these are the ones I call careless mistakes, mistakes that are due to the worker’s refusal to abide by certain rules. While training, the margin of errors and potential mistakes is even bigger, such that you are more than twice likely to make careless mistakes when you are still in the training than when you are already established in the job.
Careless mistakes are those mistakes that could cause serious damage to life, property or both from the job, which could have been avoided by simple measures or basic principles. However, these simple measures and basic principles are not that simple, after all. Hence, in this post, you are going to learn about the basic principles of avoiding those careless mistakes while training at work.
So, how do you avoid careless mistakes at work, especially during your training? What are the precautions you should adhere to? Below are a few things you should do to avoid careless mistakes when you are training at work.
How To Avoid Careless Mistakes During Training
Here are some basic things you can do to avoid careless mistakes at work during training;
- Start with small tasks
- Do one thing at a time; avoid multitasking
- Work under supervision, especially when just starting
- Make sure you know what the job is all about
- Understand the basics
- Take breaks and intermittent rests
- Eat well
- Ask questions
- Use personal protective equipment
- Read and adhere to guidelines
Start with small tasks
When you initially start a job, it is logical to say that you will be as skilled as those who have been on the job. To minimize mistakes that may cost serious loss of property, life or body parts, it is expected that you start with small tasks and progress upwards from them. For example, before attempting to repair a whole engine block, try assembling a small part of that engine first to see if you are ready to go a step higher.
Do one thing at a time; avoid multitasking
Multitasking is a skill that everyone is required to develop as we go on with life. Time is always of the essence and any method through which we can maximize time would prove truly valuable. As important as multitasking is, in the early stages of your training, when you have not mastered any of the concepts of the job, you should avoid multitasking as much as possible.
Work under supervision, especially when just starting
The best professional has had to be supervised at some point. It is quite clear that sometimes you may want to try things out by yourself. However, wh, when you do so, the risk of making grave mistakes with serious consequences becomes higher. It is important that you work under supervision, especially during the initial stages of your training experience, and if you must try things out by yourself, you must first be sure that the mistakes, at worst, will produce any serious consequences to life and property.
Make sure you know what the job is all about
Before you carry out complex training exercises by yourself, it is important that you have understood what the job is all about. Once you have the goal in your mind, you are better equipped to navigate towards it. Mistakes are more likely when you are working aimlessly, and these may not only cause harm or damage, they may also affect the quality of your products.
Understand the basics
Basics are everything, but the majority of the time, people ignore the basics and chase after complexities. Basics form the complexities and it becomes logical to understand that understanding the basics gives you a good grasp of the complex things. Before you try out new things, be sure that you have understood the basics of handling, manoeuvres, choice of instrument to use, etc, as far as the work is concerned.
Take breaks and intermittent rests
Careless mistakes have a higher likelihood of occurrence when you are tired and stressed. To avoid careless mistakes, you should take intermittent breaks and rests. Your employer or supervisor at your work must have made provisions for breaks and rests. Utilize these free periods to get some rest and replenish your energy levels, so as to prevent you from making costly mistakes that you could avoid.
Eat well
One of the clear signs of hunger and shortage of energy is trembling. When your hands, feet or other parts of the body starts shaking spontaneously, chances of making errors become higher considerably. Also, your focus and coordination are also reduced when you are hungry. To avoid these, learn to eat well and adequately before and while working.
Ask questions
You can never go wrong by asking questions. Asking questions provides you with the information needed to understand the basics. When you ask questions frequently or when you are stuck, you stand a good chance of preventing errors, and you are better equipped to mitigate them or correct them promptly when they occur.
Use personal protective equipment
Mistakes in the workplace not only affect the quality of the product, I mentioned earlier that these can result in loss of life and property. Many errors at work result in disasters to the life of the worker, hence, the need to use personal protective equipment. We may be able to avoid careless and costly mistakes to a very large extent, but what about the inevitable mistakes I talked about? It is important that you use personal protective equipment like gloves, masks, shields, aprons, etc, to minimize the effect of hazards and mistakes when they eventually occur inevitably.
Read and adhere to guidelines
Every job has its own set of rules and guidelines. Adhering to these guidelines lead to better outcomes in the workplace, and ensuring safety to the worker while working or training. A common mistake people make is that they forget to read through the guidelines or working manuals before they start off the job or training exercises, resulting in making mistakes that could have been avoided in the first place.
Conclusion
Mistakes are normal parts of life and are also seen in the workplace. Careless mistakes are those that could be avoided, but due to lack of adequate information to prevent them, the worker or trainee makes them. Trainees experience more mistakes than professionals. However, this guide provided you with some measures to avoid careless mistakes that may cost life, properties or both. Thanks for reading. Subscribe and drop comments below. I appreciate that greatly.
