Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1160801
W EEKLY EDITION AUGUST 21, 2019 Building a Culture of Safety Part I I : Co mm un i cat io n By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director Putting it in practice. All that sounds great in theory – but how does it work in practice? Let's consider a couple of different times when you could be talking about safety with your workers. The morning huddle . In a 2017 webinar offered by ProCore, safety expert Carl Johansen talked about using quality management conc epts to build a safety culture. The idea is that continuous improvement goes hand in hand with respect for people. So each morning, supervisors should do a "huddle" that lasts a short amount of time but is highly focused on safety. Use the time to • Evalua te whether – or to what extent – the common accident precursors are there. Check out the list in last week's Association Insight story. It is available here . If there are too many precursors, take preventative steps immediately rather than waiting for the accident to happen. This involves asking your employees questions about the day ahead and how they will approach their work. Look for unusual things (new customers/job sites, roads that are u nder construction that weren't yesterday, expected weather conditions, time pressure) and talk about the team member's plan for staying safe in spite of them. • Engage your team in committing to safe behavior. Don't ask yes - no questions. (What employee in th e world would answer "no" to a question like, "Everyone is going to work safe today, right?") Instead, ask things like, "Okay, we have a new job site today out on highway 212. What needs to happen to keep everyone safe when units are on an active highway p roject? The monthly safety meeting . There are many ways to conduct a safety meeting, and some better than others. Experts at Meeting Tomorrow have several suggestions – which we've modified slightly for the portable sanitation industry - how to structure and conduct a safety meeting: • The main objective of a safety meeting is either to remind employees of safe practices they have already learne d, or to introduce and build awareness of new techniques, new equipment, or new regulations that must be observed. P AGE 9 CONTINUED ON PAGE 10