Is it time to ditch the safety moment?
It’s National workplace health and safety month in Australia this October. This year’s theme is SafeTea emphasising the importance of involving everyone in WHS discussions by encouraging workplaces to have a safety chat over a cup of tea. This got me thinking about safety conversations. I pondered, is the safety moment at the start of every meeting ritual impactful, engaging, behaviour changing or is just eroding safety credibility?
Google defines a safety moment or tip as a short, specific exercise designed to get employees thinking about safety. They usually involve a problem or scenario that employees are likely to encounter on the job, followed by a few minutes of reflection and discussion.
I’ve sat through safety moments, particularly in the corporate environment, where a volunteer is sought to do a safety tip to start a meeting. The safety tip is generally non-work related, transactional and focused on seasonal and personal safety e.g. “winter is coming up make sure you have your snow chains” or “it’s daylight savings don’t forget to change the battery in your smoke alarm”. While these tips are important, they’re often not specific to the workplace. I’m often left asking myself, did that tip or that moment actually engage people and did it contribute to making our workplaces safer? So, I reached out to people in India, Japan, Korea, USA and Europe to learn more about safety moments through a global lens.
Here's what I learned. Safety tips in a corporate setting appear less thoughtful than safety moments in the operational environment. They appear generic, as they often don’t relate back to the operational risk profile of the organisation. Delivered correctly however, safety tips can be a good tool to kickstart conversation.
In an operational environment the “safety tip” is not specifically branded, it’s just part of the standard safety discussions, which usually take place through a daily brief, startup meeting or tool box. The safety tip is usually lead by an operational leader and may be in the form of a story, or relate to performance from the previous day, or present information around the tasks that are being conducted on that day, and are relevant to the audience. Safety tips in operations almost always relate to the working environment and the work being conducted, and regularly, the safety team help with providing relevant safety tips. In Canada and Australia, those doing the work talk through the hazards and controls and/or share previously learned experiences. In the USA the safety information for the daily brief is generally provided by the safety team and feedback is sought through walk and talks. In Japan and India GEMBA walks are used to inspect safety and then drive conversation and compliance.
Regardless of approach, why in the corporate world do we not have data driven, human centric, strategic safety moments? Should we rid ourselves of the awkward 60 seconds or do we revamp it?
Here are my tips for an impactful safety moment (particularly in a corporate setting):
1. Tell a story. A safety story. Make it memorable, and link it back to tip being shared.
2. Think about the audience and keep the moment relevant.
3. Keep the tip work related, think about your operational risks and controls.
4. Safety people don’t have to deliver the safety tips. Ask others to tell safety stories.
5. Use operational data and insights to inform safety moments.
** Sarah’s choice of a cuppa for SafeTea is a piccolo, and a margarita when not on the clock.
Want to learn more about how safety moments are delivered globally? Read more from these renowed safety and operational leaders.