SMS Buzzword Bingo

Whether or not it's really required to be two days long, my Safety Management Systems training is complete. SMS is to the first decade of the 21st century what ISO was to the 1990s and TQM was to the 1980s. If you too are required to do this training, here's a way I came up with, in between the Power Point slides and the meaningful group activities, to make it a little more interesting.

On a spare piece of paper, or inside the back cover of your workbook, draw for yourself a five by five grid. This will be your bingo card. Choose twenty-five buzzwords or events from the list below and fill them in, one per square, anywhere in your bingo card. Now let the lecturer be your bingo caller. Mark off each square as it occurs in the lecture. When you have five in a row, put up your hand and ask a question or make a comment containing the word bingo. For example, "We experienced a similar situation at a job in Gold River," or "Won't rubbing out one error here just cause another?" Then clear your card and start again. Whoever has the most bingos at the end of the lecture wins, but you lose a point if you laugh.

The List

Words & Phrases: safety culture, responsibility, trust, feedback, risk, spokesman, committee, pencil-whip, sabotage, learning, improvement, situation, analysis, experience, model, training, negligence, authority, responsibility, function, standard, accident, oversee, revision, process, empower, implement, review, case study

Events: presenter quotes James Reason, presenter quotes himself, coffee is spilled, a cellphone rings, someone gets called out of the room, a graphic is illegible, anyone tips a chair over backwards, audiovisual equipment malfunctions, slide shows a flow chart

At the end of the class we signed forms pledging to have a "positive interaction" with any of our coworkers whom we observed "engaging in unsafe acts." The guy sitting beside me wanted to know if condoms would be provided.

P.S. An HR company representing Vizcacha has called at least one of my references. This is a good sign.