Safety Tool box meetings

Regular, short, sharp, tool-box meetings or toolbox talks can be an excellent means of getting the safety message to employees and resolving safety problems.

The following advice is given for the conduct of these meetings:

1. Find a quiet area free of distractions
2. Use open-ended questions to promote involvement, positively reinforce responses to questions and comments
3. Remember the 7P rule-Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents P—s Poor Performance
4. A bit of humour does not go astray
5. Research your topic and generally be organised
6. Audience interaction is always a good idea
7. Avoid lecture style presentations wherever possible
8. When you cannot answer questions raised find out and provide feedback to the group
9. Have a set agenda and publish minutes, including to relevant noticeboards. The minutes record discussion and outline agreed actions
10. Topics can include a review of incidents, observations on practice, safety alerts, legislative updates and safety initiatives
11. A guest speaker or relevant audio-visual presentation can add variety
12. Having a set time every month has advantages
13. The OHS professional can be a guest presenter and source of relevant material
14. The meetings can be general safety training, an explanation of a new safety initiative, a review of existing work procedures or a general safety motivation tool
15. Duration is generally 15-30 minutes
16. Thoughts are varied on whether the meeting should be strictly about safety, my view is that safety should be the dominant content
17. Be wary of people “saving up” their safety concerns until the tool-box meeting. Encourage prompt reporting of all safety concerns
18. Have an attendance sheet where participants sign off
19. Thank people for their participation

For further information refer to the paper Tool-box meetings on www.ohschange.com.au