Do your employees complain, “Safety meetings are a waste of time?” Safety meetings don’t have to be boring. When they’re conducted properly, even inattentive groups perk up and listen. What’s more, their safety record improves.
Preparation is the key to a good presentation. If you want to give a powerful safety presentation, put some time into planning it. Decide what you wish to get across. It’s better to give employees three things they will remember than 13 things they will forget.
Write down your goals for work safety. Select a practical topic, then focus your talk on these areas or on a recent accident. Get creative.
Whenever possible, use visual aids or handouts. Good slides, videos, overhead transparencies, or flip charts can give life to a meeting. Try to involve all your workers’ senses.
Bring in a prop they can feel, such as a damaged tool that is unsafe or a hazardous chemical bottle that is missing a label. Demonstrate the effectiveness of a steel-toed shoe by dropping a weight on it. Have people pair off and do an activity, such as a joint lift of a heavy object.
At Mobil Oil, for instance, an entire safety training program revolves around slides that are taken of different areas in the worksite. Employees are encouraged to shout out any hazards they see as the slides click by. Called “safety scanning,” this technique encourages and trains employees to continuously look out for hazards at their job.
While conducting your presentation, sell the benefits of safety. For example, some safety techniques can help people protect their families and homes. Good safety practices can also save money. Avoid gory stories—they turn people off.
When employees participate in a meeting, they’re more likely to remember what you say. So think of every angle to get them involved. For example, you could take a poll, asking, “How many of you have ever been in an accident?”
Increase interest by providing some kind of competition. For instance, you could have them bring in their safety glasses and conduct a contest to see who has the cleanest glasses. Or try a scavenger hunt, where everyone goes out on to the shop floor and looks for as many hazards as they can find.
Encourage your workers to describe any safety problems they may have and brainstorm with the group for solutions. Make sure your employees are comfortable discussing safety issues with you.
When you wrap up the meeting, review all your main points. Plan an upbeat ending that leaves your audience with a joke or story they will remember. Then give them a quiz and see how much information they retained. This feedback will help you plan your next meeting. You can also use the tests as documentation that training has occurred.
Thank your employees for attending, and let them know you expect them to consistently carry out the ideas you just presented.
SAFETY MEETING CHECKLIST
How to Run a Creative Safety Meeting
The Plan
- Have you put any time into planning your safety meeting?
- Did you write down your goals for work safety?
- Have you chosen a topic that is relevant and important?
- Are you using visual aids, slides, handouts, videos, overhead transparencies or flip charts?
- Do you have props ready for your audience?
The Presentation
- Will you get your audience involved in the meeting?
- Are you going to ask them to demonstrate a technique?
- Will you ask them for their ideas and solutions?
- Are you going to ask them questions?
- Will you hold a competition?
- Will you take a poll of safety related issues?
- Did you sell safety to your employees?
- Did you tell them how they would benefit from safety?
The Wrap-Up
- Did you review all the main points of the meeting?
- Did you end with an upbeat story or joke?
- Did you give your employees a quiz to see how much they retained?
- Did you provide immediate feedback on the quiz results?
- Did you thank your employees for coming to the meeting?
- Did you tell them of your safety expectations?