Mike Strawbridge

How to choose a good safety meeting topic

Safety meetings are important to keep employees informed of the latest safety procedures and to keep safe work practices fresh in the minds of all involved.

A good safety meeting topic is relevant, timely and interesting. Take a look at your process. Are there any new work instructions that have been introduced? If so, look into the safety implications of each new work instruction.

Are you having quality issues? Look at the work practices involved and see what the proper and safe way to do the job is. Make this the topic of your next safety meeting.

Don’t focus on specific body parts or injuries unless you want more of these injuries. Focus on safe work practices. For example, if you are having a lot of back injuries, don’t have a safety meeting on back problems. Instead, look at the work practices where people are hurting their backs and instruct people in how to use the lifting equipment properly. Show them the right way to do the job.

Often safety meetings are a good chance to get feedback form the employees. Listen to their safety concerns and suggestions on how to improve the process. Make sure they understand that you care about creating a safe and productive workplace for all involved.

Watch out for safety slogans like “safety is our number one priority.” If that is true, then just pay people to sit at home on the couch. They won’t get hurt that way. Workplace safety is about getting the job done the most safest and most productive manner that produces a quality product.

Choose your safety meeting topics carefully and you will see an increase in the interest level of the participants. Focus on what is important to your operation, not just the flavor of the month.

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Tags: safety meeting topics, workplace safety

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 12:34 PM and is filed under Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.