Safety Meeting Tip

Find and Fix the Hazard

Tell your workers there will be homework at the end of this week’s safety meeting. Challenge your crew members to find at least one hazardous situation and do something to correct it over the next week.

Ask your workers to report on what they have done to remedy the hazards found.

Explain the assignment this way:

Find a hazard. This can be something such as a greasy spill on the floor, a loose rail on the catwalk or a dead light bulb in the storeroom.

Correct the hazard. If they are authorized and trained to take care of the situation, they should do so. Otherwise they should report the problem to someone who can fix it. They may be able to barricade and clean up the spill on the floor. They should tell you immediately about the loose rail so you can assign the repair. They could speak to a maintenance worker about the lighting problem.

At the next meeting, have everyone report in. Remember, they must have done something about the hazard, not just observed it. If they have seen a co-worker doing something unsafe, they should have pointed it out to him immediately.

The purpose of this assignment is to encourage everyone to accept responsibility for finding hazards and taking action to fix them. The action need not be hands-on; reporting the problem to the proper person is often the correct course of action.

This assignment to find and fix hazards should generate safety discussion and awareness through the coming week and at your next safety meeting.