5 Tips To Make Your Next Safety Meeting More Productive
Guest Post
Most of us have, at some point in our working lives, been required to attend a meeting that informs us about company safety policies and procedures. Too often these meetings are a drudgery, and the mere mention of them brings forth groans of despair. When your employees are bored, they are not likely to be nearly as productive as they might be when energized and engaged. In order to improve the quality of your meetings, here are five tips to make your next safety meeting more productive.
1. Start with a few brief questions about your company’s safety policies. Solicit answers from the trainees to gauge their current level of understanding and preparedness. Use the participants’ responses as a springboard for further discussion about the details of proper safety procedure.
2. Encourage your workers to identify and communicate their concerns. Have they noticed unsafe practices in the past? Ask them to suggest opportunities for improvement and make a sincere effort to implement these changes whenever possible. Make a note of the ideas generated during the meeting so that you can follow up on them at a later time. If you feel confidentiality might be an impediment to some trainees reporting problem areas, offer ways for your employees to communicate these concerns to you without putting them on the spot.
3. Avoid using scripted presentations unless absolutely necessary. We as humans are social creatures and feel much more energetic and interested when listening to another live person than when watching a recorded presentation, no matter how high the production quality. That said, you must make an effort to keep your presentation personal and engaging. Keep your conversation on-topic and as brief as possible while still covering the information thoroughly.
4. Reward your employees for their hard work and their attention to safe workplace practices. This may mean that you reward trainees for their active and productive participation in the meeting itself, or perhaps use the meetings as an opportunity to publicly reward employees (or employee teams) that have been particularly conscientious about maintaining a safe work environment for everyone. While these rewards need not be expensive, they should be meaningful. If your company’s budget allows, perhaps a gift card or other token of appreciation can accompany some heartfelt thanks from the honored employee’s supervisor.
5. Provide refreshments. This may seem like a frivolous suggestion, but appealing food and drink options help your audience remain positive about what they may view as a rather dull meeting topic. Offering refreshments is especially important if your safety meetings tend to be lengthy, testing the capability of your audience to remain attentive. If the presentation is scheduled to take place during a regular meal time, consider taking a break midway through and encouraging participants to stretch their legs and grab a snack before resuming the session.
By keeping your presentation focused and engaging, safety meetings will be a valued opportunity for you and your employees to learn how to maintain a workplace that is safe for everyone.
Jason Chisolm is a workplace safety expert and technical content advisor for http://www.safetyvideos.com/ a leading provider of safety training videos and products. A strong believer is the possibility of “no accidents,” Mr. Chisolm strives to bring a sense of humor to his training sessions all the while promoting workplace safety.
Do you have any thoughts? Please share them below