Employee Training

Staff can only assist in reducing energy use if they know the effect and costs of their actions. This requires training. Nobody wants to explain to their children why they waste energy at work, but they will be proud to explain how they are reducing energy use and CO2 emissions.

The main types of training are:

Awareness: This is not technical training, but rather emotion-based. All staff know about climate change and recognize the need to reduce energy use. They will take action to reduce energy use at home, and this should be linked to their actions at work. Awareness training should be approximately 40 minutes long.

Policy and financial: This is primarily a “management briefing” and should focus on the financial benefits.

Tools training: This is process-/product-specific and is developed by process managers for the process.

Actions:

Create an awareness training program and use it as part of the normal staff training process. (A free, downloadable energy-awareness training booklet is available from www.tangram.co.uk/energy.)
Use a “go-see” exercise, where staff go to another area and find five ideas to reduce energy use. Record the ideas and take action to reduce energy costs.
Report the savings to the staff.
If reporting savings in dollar-terms is an issue, then report savings in terms of CO₂ emissions.

Note: Dr. Robin Kent is the author of Energy Management in Plastics Processing, published by Plastics Information Direct, and managing director of Tangram Technology Ltd., consulting engineers specializing in energy management in plastics processing. rkent@tangram.co.uk.