Hello Safety Stars or whoever is reading this blog what I wrote!
This is the seventh of my ten top tips to help you be simply spiffing safety being!
Talk to your staff
You must consult with your team on Health and Safety matters; this might be via safety reps, forums or individually.
In smaller companies the good old fashioned concept of talking to the people who work for you works really well.
Safety needn’t be (and best isn’t) a separate subject from everything else don’t have a Safety Meeting have a Team Meeting with Safety an item on the agenda I can’t tell you how strongly I recommend this.
Remember that consultation is a two way conversation otherwise its instruction and this isn’t what the legislation calls for.
- Ways of consultation which work….
- Whilst undertaking Safety Monitoring Checks, speak to your staff ask them if they have any concerns. Note who you have spoken to.
- Add it to the agenda of any Team Meetings, ask for suggestions for improvement or procedures which don’t work or cause a headache?
- Ask for suggestions to stop accidents re-occurring or to improve audit scores.
To make the above work you must have a culture where your workers feel they can approach and offer constructive criticism and that they will be listened too. Remember that your safety system is supposed to change and adapt and improve with time it is not supposed to be set in stone for the rest of eternity!
We’re very good at funking (that’s the word without a C) up safety briefings and making the whole concept of safety enjoyable and interesting so if you want some ideas or to rob one of our safety games, Emma spent almost the whole day yesterday devising a game of blockbusters (can I have a P please Bob), drop her a line at Emma@innovativesafety.co.uk