5 Ways to Jump-start a Safety Meeting
If you want a successful safety meeting, it’s important to get the attention of your staff early. The best way to engage an audience is to show them how your topic relates to themselves. When you’re talking about safety, the best way to get buy-in is to show your staff the repercussions of bad practices.These 5 hooks can help get your next safety meeting off to a great start.
#5 Use current events
Using a search engine it’s easy to find stories about workplace safety violations. Highlighting a story that shows the repercussions of poor safety in a related industry or nearby business is a great way to lead into talking about your own safety policies. Example: If you’re looking for commonly cited safety violations in your industry, a great place to start is the Data and Statistics area of https://www.osha.gov/.
#4 Spot the safety violation
Display images of poor safety and ask your staff if they can spot the violations. Example: Take photos of scenarios within your own workplace or use photos of safety violations available online.
#3 Use an analogy
If you’re a good storyteller, using an analogy can be a great way to relate a subject with your audience. Example: Use the Swiss Cheese model (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cheese_model) to describe the need for redundant safety systems. A simple analogy can lend itself well to a hand-drawn diagram if you have a whiteboard handy.
#2 Use humor
Depending on your staff and the subject matter of your safety meeting, humor can be a great tool for getting someone’s attention. Example: If you’re about to talk about using common sense in the workplace, show a funny video that highlights poor decision-making.
#1 Use a realistic scenario
Setting up a workplace safety scenario is a great way to lead into a safety meeting. Throughout your meeting, you can refer back to the initial scenario to highlight decisions made in the workplace. Example: If you’re talking about workplace violence, you can show a video scenario and ask for staff input. These hooks are flexible so that they can be adapted to the needs your workplace and staff. With a little extra work, a good hook can make your subject real for your audience and inject some life into your next meeting.