group of people in safety attire meeting on-site

3 ways to bring new energy to your safety meetings

Author: BLR

Safety meetings are a great way to get your team together, discuss relevant safety issues, and review proper protocol for maneuvering in an unsafe situation, among others.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements vary by state, so be sure to find out what’s required for your company’s safety meeting frequency. Employee engagement is necessary for employees to retain information and understand new procedures. Luckily, there are ways to breathe new life into your safety meetings and redesign their structure in ways employees can better understand and engage with.

In this article, we’ll share three ways to revitalize your safety meetings so you can increase employee participation and foster a positive safety culture.

Change up your environment

When meetings are held in the same location, employees are more likely to put their minds on autopilot when the speakers begin talking. Change things up by moving the meeting to another location, maybe even out of the office and into the field. Take your department to a site that’s common ground for everyone and have them participate in a demonstration. Engaging them in an activity will prevent their minds from wandering.

Consider organizing a contest

Contests are great motivators for people to step up their game. Introduce a safety contest at your next meeting that will get people excited about the reward and will create friendly competition. When employees know there’s something at stake, they will work hard to come out on top. Just ensure the contest doesn’t entice workers to take shortcuts that would negatively affect the quality of their work in an attempt to win. The idea is to incentivize them to put safety first.

Involve different speakers

Another way to shake up the norm for your safety meetings is to consider not using the same speaker for every meeting. Bringing in other reliable sources to speak to your team every now and then is a great way to involve other stakeholders in your safety initiatives and to hear different perspectives. Reach out to your network on LinkedIn or by other means to see if anyone would be interested in sharing their experiences with your team. You can also consider bringing in OSHA representatives, safety professionals from other companies, and industry experts to infuse your team with ideas and perspectives beyond your own company’s.

Regular safety meetings give you the chance to be creative and engage your team members. Decide which of these ideas, if any, are conducive to your team and line of work, and plan your next meeting to be the most engaging to date. Use our 2024 safety meetings calendar to easily plan your engaging safety meetings for the year with corresponding events.