October 2007

STEPS TO HOLD AN EFFECTIVE SAFETY HUDDLE

Safety huddles are short safety meetings with fellow workers covering a specific safety topic or type of hazard. Not only are they an effective way to demonstrate a company’s commitment to safety, they are also an excellent team building exercise.

Start every shift with a huddle to review issues such as:

• Potential and known hazards of a new project.
• Causes and corrective action for a recent accident or close call.
• Job hazards that should be emphasized together with an overview of proper safety rules aimed to prevent accidents.
• General problems concerned with both on-job and off-job safety.

How large should a huddle be?

To keep encourage active participation on the part of workers keep groups to no more than 10 workers. Larger groups can be used, however, the workers will be less likely to contribute to any discussions.

How long should the huddle last?

A huddle should last no more than 10 minutes if workers are standing, if the topic is well chosen, and if the discussion does not get off track. For more important topics that require more than 10 minutes to address, consider a series of huddles or hold the meeting where the workers can sit comfortably and away from noise and other distractions.

Who should be responsible for the huddle?

Normally a supervisor leads a huddle, simply because it’s his or her responsibility to know the employees, the nature of the project to be undertaken and its associated hazards. There is no reason that a worker cannot conduct a huddle provided he or she:

• Takes the assignment seriously
• Is given sufficient time to prepare
• Is not too nervous about speaking to the group
• Is given encouragement and help, if needed

How can a huddle be conducted?

There is no one best way, however, the following suggestions should provide a good chance of success.

• Make a clear announcement of the time, place and reason for the huddle. Be sure to start on time.
• Explain why the huddle is being held.
• Keep the huddle on track. If a worker brings up an important point, promise to have a huddle on that topic at a later date. Follow through on the promise!
• Allow time for discussion and questions. If you don’t know the correct answer, don’t try to guess. Call your Safety Representative to find out the answer.
• Appeal to the workers’ desire for approval. Discuss things that are being done right as well as problem areas. Also, you can appeal to the workers’ competitive instinct by delivering a good “sales pitch” and show some enthusiasm!
• Use a real accident case to emphasize a point. For maximum impact, use a recent and close to home case to capture workers’ attention.