Friday, March 09, 2007

Learning the language of the workplace

These classes are teaching employees some of the words they need to work safely and even get better jobs. DP

West-metro school districts and others across the state have reached out to local employers with on-site English classes for workers limited by communication barriers.

By Patrice Relerford

Startribune.com: When Mayo Hart held her first English class at the GE Water filter assembly plant in Minnetonka, the first word supervisors wanted her to teach was "rotate."

Employees are expected to rotate stations regularly to avoid neck or wrist problems caused by repetitive motion. But they were not always doing so, Hart said.

"They thought it was bad or that they were giving up" if they moved from one post to another, she said. "They didn't understand why the supervisors wanted them to switch stations."

The workers' English skills were playing a role in such misunderstandings, as well as in failure to report work hazards, said Hart, an adult-education teacher for Minnetonka schools.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

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