4 Tips to Ensure Meaningful Work Safety Meetings

There are few phases more dreadful to the ears of employees, and the responsibility of managers, than "safety meeting." Even giving it a creative name like "safety huddle" or "risk management meeting" doesn't change the boredom that workers experience when they have to sit through a meeting that consists of little more than the manager telling them about a workers compensation insurance claim that was caused by not following safety procedures or a reading a page from the OSHA manual.

workers compensation paperwork

But safety is important, which is why managers continue to carry out their responsibility and workers create mental to-do lists while pretending to look attentive. To ensure that your employees are well-informed about how to do their work safely, or basic procedures when an incident arises, follow these tips to create meaningful work safety meetings:

Cancel the Meetings: Instead of asking them to stop working and listen to you talk about safety for any length of time, incorporate key safety messages into your regular meetings. Have a "safety minute" where you talk about an item that's particularity relevant, or an issue that's recently happened where safety measures, or lack thereof, played an important role in the outcome. Tie the message into what's happening and team members may be more engaged and maintain a higher level of awareness.
Stay Short: If safety meetings are a must, then limit the time and choose just two or three points to focus on. Most of your team members have already done the required safety training so you don't want to bore them by repeating it again and again
Keep the Message Personal: Once you've covered the points of your meeting, ask employees how their experience ties in with what was discussed. Or pose a hypothetical situation that relates to what you talked about and ask for their suggestions on how to handle it. By engaging employees in the discussion, they'll retain the information much better than if you simply lecture them.
Be Consistent: Make safety meetings a regular part of your meeting schedule, whether you include a few minutes about safety in each weekly meeting or hold a safety meeting each month. This will help employees see its importance in the workplace.

Incorporate these four tips into your workplace to ensure that employees know proper procedures for keeping the workplace safe and reducing the possibility of having to make a business insurance claim.

Safety should be a part of every workplace. Call Kendall Agency for more information on workers compensation insurance.

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