Reading and writing difficulties are more common than many people think. Over one million Norwegians struggle with general reading difficulties after finishing school. This can pose a significant safety risk in the industry, as many employees may have trouble understanding written procedures and safety instructions. To utilize all resources optimally and ensure a safe workplace, it is therefore important to create a dyslexia-friendly work environment. With the management tool RamBase QMS, employees have the opportunity to understand important work procedures without having to read.
Challenges with reading difficulties in the workplace
According to Dysleksi Norge, as many as 20% of those who graduate from school have general reading difficulties. Society's demands for reading and writing skills are becoming increasingly stringent, and adults with reading difficulties have a real fear of forms that must be read, understood, and filled out at work. The industry has a great need for competence and workforce, and it is therefore crucial that it facilitates opportunities for those with reading and writing difficulties to contribute.
RamBase QMS: A tool for understanding
With the management tool RamBase QMS, individuals with reading difficulties have the opportunity to understand important work procedures without having to read long texts. RamBase QMS makes it easy to create documents such as work instructions, one-point lessons, and procedures by reducing text usage and instead using pictures, symbols, videos, and flow models. By describing work instructions visually, businesses can ensure that employees both learn and perform tasks correctly in a more efficient way.
Visualization as a key to understanding
The challenges of document comprehension were in many ways the starting point for the establishment of RamBase QMS, initially under the name INOSA, over 20 years ago. The system's founders, with experience from Brazil, where illiteracy has been high, saw the need to use colour codes and pictures to make things simpler and more understandable.
Visualization with pictures, symbols, and videos has its origins in the LEAN mindset and has, among other things, been a success formula for IKEA, whose manuals contain symbols that are understood by everyone, regardless of their native language.
The latest generation of workers is also used to using "How to" and "DIY" videos on YouTube. With RamBase QMS, this concept can easily be integrated into the procedural tools and quality systems.
An Important Social Responsibility
It is an important social responsibility to accommodate individuals with reading and writing difficulties. When 50% of those outside the workforce have reading difficulties, facilitating the industry can help more people get the opportunity to work when this barrier is removed. This is a win-win situation: more people get the opportunity to work, businesses gain access to a more versatile workforce, and society benefits from having more people employed.
Creating a dyslexia-friendly workplace is therefore an investment in both human and economic resources, which will yield positive results for a long time to come.
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