How do you get your people to participate in your safety meetings?
Download our free Perfect Safety Meeting Roadmap with 5 safety meeting topics to use at your next safety meeting or toolbox talk!
Safety meetings or toolbox talks, whether daily, weekly or monthly, usually consist of safety people and supervisors standing up and talking in front of the team.
The people in attendance are there because they have to be and half-listen to the message being delivered. How do you move from “half-listening” to fully engaged? How do you ensure that the meeting content will be retained on the job site?
On any highway roadmap, the memorable spots or Landmarks make you want to slow down, pull over, focus your attention and take away memories. The Safety Meeting Roadmap has landmarks too! We want those in our meetings to stay engaged and leave each meeting with valuable “takeaways”. Here’s how you can make your Safety meetings memorable!
First, take a few minutes to watch this video. David Brennan, co-founder of Safety Evolution talks about his experience delivering safety meetings and the framework he designed to get your people involved in meaningful, exciting, and purpose-driven safety meetings.
Create Engagement In Your Safety Meeting With Safety Exercises!
Introducing a fun exercise is a great tool to get everyone in the meeting involved and thinking about safety. As you saw in the video, a Hazard Hunt gets everyone up and talking.
Add safety exercises and activities that fit your time frame, industry, and budget and develop a safety culture.
Here are some other suggestions:
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Safety Trivia
- What better way to help employees retain their training than to ask questions?
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Safety Charades
- This one will be memorable for sure! Gets people on their feet frequently during a long meetings.
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Safety Scavenger Hunt
- Teams walk through a safety procedure. At each step, there is a flag to collect. Most flags in the shortest time win!
- Teams walk through a safety procedure. At each step, there is a flag to collect. Most flags in the shortest time win!
"What Are We Doing Great?" - How To Recognize Positive Behaviours and Actions In The Monthly Toolbox Meetings
Positive reinforcement is an awesome team builder. Encourage your people to give “Kudos” to fellow employees when intentional safety steps have been taken. Preparing your team in advance is key. Recognition can initially come in the form of written commendations or BBOs read out loud at daily toolbox talks. As your employees become more at ease with talking in the safety meetings, throw the floor open!
Review successful safety drills and the correct actions taken during a real emergency. When statistics show a decrease in incidents or increases in field level hazard assessments and safety inspection completion, be sure to address these. Ask for input and suggestions for continuing a positive trend.
"What I Wish I Knew..." - Learn From A Employees Experience
Everyone has a safety story! You may need to tell some of yours to get the ball rolling, so make sure it is believable and engaging. Ask employees to comment when your story has been told. What could have been done differently? How would that have changed the outcome? You may even get someone else spontaneously telling of a similar experience!
Start to widen the circle by asking employees to prepare to tell their own stories and encourage others to do so as well. Look to your most safety-conscious workers and the great talkers to get the ball rolling.
Incident Review - Discuss The Root Causal Factors And Corrective Actions From The Previous Months Safety Meeting
Incident review always makes for important discussion in your safety meeting. Two important components of any incident report are the causal factors and the corrective actions. Change up the incident review process by addressing causal factors and corrective actions in your safety meeting while the investigation is still open.
Part of building a proactive safety culture is the encouragement of worker input. Your safety meeting is a perfect opportunity for “new eyes” on the causal factors and suggestions for corrective action as seen from the “boots on the ground” group. Using the valuable resource of worker input gives your safety program credibility and guides your safety culture in the right direction.
General Safety Meeting Requirements - Open Discussion On Future Requirements For Your Program
May companies have designated safety reviews and safety meeting topics. You may also have to meet requirements from your client on a regular basis. As incidents occur, seasons change and new equipment or procedures become part of the job site, there are new requirements for safety meetings or toolbox topics.
Do some advance planning with your employees. Set aside time in one safety meeting to plan the relevant safety meeting topics moving forward. This kind of open communication lets employees know they are valued, which in turn, encourages “buy-in” to the safety culture.
Everyone becomes more engaged when they feel they are a part of something. By using the Safety Meeting Roadmap you will soon see the end of those dry, boring and “snoring” safety meetings. Hurray!!!
It takes 3-6 months of consistent meetings to get your team interacting and participating in your safety meetings. You will see your team develop a better understanding of what causes workplace incidents and how they can stop them from happening.
Download the Perfect Safety Meeting Roadmap and Meeting template and get started today!
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