Interviewing interviewer

Job interviews are stressful, not just for fhe candidafe but also for the interviewer. Interviewing is not something that most hiring supervisors do often enough to develop great comfort. 

Interview Interviews can be conducted in a variety of ways from very structured and focused exploratory. Interviews can be performed with individuals or groups. Interviews can provide a wide variety of task data. 

Conduct interviews — Interview the injru-ed employee and others who were at the scene. If possible, conduct the interview at the scene to reconstruct exactly what happened, and when. Verify that the injury fits the scene (don t accuse the employee of an dhing, but keep in mind that a pre-existing injury could be staged at the workplace in an effort to submit an injury claim). Do not place blame at this point, or you risk silencing the only people who know what happened. It s best to conduct the interview with an informal, fidendly, sympathetic attitude. 

Caution some interviewers prefer to use audio and/or video equipment to record witness interviews. Interviews may include witness speculations, hearsay, and unfounded conclusions on the part of biased or uninformed individuals. Recordings of those interviews may later be subpoenaed during litigation or criminal hearings. When only notes are taken, speculations can be omitted and signatures can be affixed to statements limited to facts. 

Davenport, William Henry. 1990. William H. Davenport Founding Faculty, Chairman of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Willard W. Keit, Jr. Fellow in Humanities, 1957-1973 Oral History Interview. Interview by Enid Hart Douglass. Claremont College Library. 

Record keeping is an essential requisite of good market research. In the chemical field, call reports or visit reports are usually written by the interviewer and become part of the report in some cases and certainly should become part of the company or consultant files for future reference. Obviously, the call report serves a valuable purpose in the analysis and writing stage. Some market researchers have also found that cross-referencing call reports over a period of time allows rapid identification of the respondents who have demonstrated the greatest abiUty in forecasting their company needs and/or the needs of their industry. 

Costs. There are two cost elements in doing marketing research studies professional charges and out-of-pocket expenses. The actual cost of any study is entirely dependent upon the number of interviews and the type of interviews. In practice, a 100-person interview study will cost 30,000 to 50,000. However, if a 50 x 10 investment is involved, the market study is cheap insurance. 

Assessment Phase The assessment phase aims to collect data needed to identify and analyze pollution-prevention opportunities. Assessment of the facility s waste-reduction needs includes the examination of hazardous waste streams, process operations, and the identification of techniques that often promise the reduction of waste generation. Information is often derived from obsei vations made during a facihty walk-through, interviews with employees (e.g., operators, line workers), and review of site or regulatory records. One professional organization suggests the following information sources be reviewed, as available (Ref. 7) ... 

Analyst Analysts must have a firm understanding of the operation of the unit. If they are not involved in the day-to-day operation or responsible for the unit, more preliminaiy work including process familiarization, equipment familiarization, operator interviews, and constraint hmitations will be required. Even when an analyst is responsible, a review is necessaiy. Analysts must firmly estabhsh the purpose of the unit test. Different levels require different budgets, personnel, and unit commitment. Additional resources beyond that required for routine measurements must be justified against the value of the measurements to the establishment of the understanding of the plant operation. 

Perform exit interviews of people transfer-ring/leaving... 

Some of the candidate tollers practices, records and documents can not be assessed using only a questionnaire form. A site visit to one or more of the short-listed candidate tollers is usually indicated. This is especially helpful if an unfamiliar toller is competing against a toller that is currently being used. Candidate tollers can use the information in this section to prepare for a site interview when one is requested. 

At larger sites, it is sometimes more efficient for two reviewers to interview candidate toller personnel. In general, the senior site manager should be involved in the interview session unless the toller s facility is extremely large with several layers of operations management. It is assumed interviews will include the toller s technical personnel or specialists related to the proposed toll. 

An essential part of the on-site visit is the physical inspection of the toller facility—the walk-through. It offers the opportunity to confirm interview responses, observe work practices, interview employees, and note general housekeeping, soil contamination and safety issues. 

The extent to which documents are reviewed will depend upon the results of the initial questionnaire responses, the interviews, and facility walk-around. In general, documents should be reviewed to verify good practice compliance, and a sampling will usually suffice. 

As a courtesy, a brief closeout meeting should be held with the key contact or parties interviewed. This provides an opportunity to resolve open issues and allows the toller s personnel to ask questions. 

What are the rights and responsibilities regarding interviewing parties, requiring drug testing, medical review of people involved in the accident, as well as policies associated with these areas ... 

Attempt to interview and extract key information from the persons prior to their departure. 

The assessor should establish whether for various types of jobs or job-levels criteria are formalized is there a job profile What formal education is required Is there an age limit Past experience Language ability Medical examinations Interview system ... 

If you do not listen to people, you cannot expect them to listen to you. Communication is a two-way activity. Do not make assumptions about what people know, think, or want done about risks. Take the time to find out what people are thinking. Often, people are more concerned about issues such as trust, credibility, competence, control, voluntariness, fairness, and compassion than about mortality statistics and the details of QRA. Use techniques such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys to gauge what people are thinking. 

Hundreds of friends and colleagues all over the world, far too many to name, have sent me preprints and reprints, often spontaneously. The following have provided specific information, comments or illustrations, or given me interviews ... 

Identify key individuals needed for access and information A person familiar with the HVAC systems in the building should be available to assist the investigator at any time during the onsite phase. Individuals who have complained or who are in charge of potential sources (e.g., housekeeping, non- HVAC equipment) should be aware that their information is important and should be contacted for appointments or telephone interviews if they will not be available during the onsite visit. 

This method involves going to the job loeation and observing the tasks as they are eompleted. The employee is interviewed about the hazards inherent in eaeh task. This method is better than the diseussion method but has some drawbaeks. You are limited by your powers of observation. 

Wlien interviewing potential workers for hazardous waste work, the interviewer should determine if the interviewee is up to date in training. Should the perspective worker get the job, how much time, effort and money will it take in training to get that worker up to speed It is... 

All types of businesses are interested in cutting costs. You should not be surprised when, during an interview, an experienced worker informs you that his or her present or past employers did not make the appropriate investment in them as far as training is concerned. 

OSHA has warned employers that it will make a special effort to inspect a company s PPE programs to determine whether appropriate equipment was made available and fitted properly to workers. OSHA is particularly interested in female employees. PPE is not always designed properly for women. OSHA plans to interview female employees during inspections to ensure that they are fitted properly. 

Compliance with the written program can be verified during the walkaround by personal observation and employee interviews. If respirators are required to be worn in the workplace or respirators other than dust masks are worn by voluntary users, a written program is required. An overexposure is not required to cite. Discrepancies between the written program and implemented work practices at the worksite should be cited. Use of a elastomeric or supplied-air respirator, even when voluntary on the part of the employee, will require the employer to include all elements in a written program that will make sure that there is proper use of these respirators so that they do not create a hazard. 

Interviews at Site I indieated that emergeney response planning and training had been poorly implemented and that training in emergeney spill eontainment and fire extinguisher use had not been provided. 

The contractors SSAHPs at Sites B, F, and K had general confined space provisions but lacked site-specific confined space procedures. For example, SSAHPs for the Site K contractor and subcontractor had written confined space entry programs, but the programs did not establish site-specific rescue procedures or identify the confined space hazards present on the site. The job hazard analyses for both programs failed to address site maintenance tasks that could involve confined space entry and hot work hazards. The programs also failed to identify the specific person or position responsible for supervising confined space entry procedures and the location of permit-required confined spaces on site. Interviews with both contractors indicated confusion about rescue procedures. 

Employers must develop in-house capability to investigate incidents that occur in their facilities. A team should be assembled by the employer and trained in the techniques of investigation, including how to conduct interviews of witnesses, assemble needed documentation, and write reports. A multidisciplinary team is better able to gather the facts of the event and to analyze them and develop plausible scenarios as to what happened and why. Team members should be selected on the basis of their training, knowledge, and ability to contribute to a team effort to fully investigate the incident. 

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