Teaching Health and Safety: Preparing staff for the unexpected
by Greg Cronin, CCD  Preparing camp counselors for their role as
staff members, community leaders, and knowledgeable caregivers
is a daunting task. Many staff members are themselves students
or adolescents unsure of the aspects of camp wellness, and they
bring different beliefs and varied backgrounds to camp. As a
camp director or administrator, you must teach them the
importance of proper procedures when it comes to safety, OSHA,
and dealing with daily camp health issues.  Getting your health
and safety message across to camp staff requires that you
understand the learner. Young people see themselves as
invulnerable. They rest easy with a self-determined sense that
they are safe from diseases. You need to recognize this so that
your training will accomplish the difficult feat of respecting
their personal opinions and self-esteem while translating the
correct information in a format that serves to protect and
assist campers.  Some staff may alrea