Toolbox Meetings What is a toolbox meeting? An informal 5 to 15 minute meeting held by supervisors used to promote safety.

Purpose A toolbox meeting is a platform used to discuss safety and work-related accidents. It is your opportunity to provide safety awareness and training in a short concise meeting.

Famous Adage Just like children, adults, more often the men need to be reminded of what needs to be done and how to do it. It never hurts to remind them. My Wife

Why Have Them? Used to address actual safety issues Draws on the experience of other associates Provides constant reinforcement to new associates that safety matters Provides an atmosphere of ownership for associates that normally are not vocal Statistics show that continual safety awareness reduces accidents

When To Have Them? Toolbox meetings should be conducted each week. Preferably on Mondays so you start the week off with safety on your mind.

What To Talk About Work practices Machine operation Tools Materials Attitudes Safety Hazards The important thing is that you are CREATING SAFETY AWARENESS, AGAIN.

Talk about something you feel needs talking about If there has been an accident talk about: - What happened - Where it happened - How you can prevent it from happening again (lessons learned) Encourage associates to suggest topics.

How To Run A Good Meeting Hold the meeting in a conducive area Read your material ahead of time Be careful asking another person to read the material – they may not read well Conduct the meeting at the beginning of the shift, after lunch, or after a break Choose your topic carefully. It should pertain to your work environment.

Don’t choose too broad of a topic, e.g., you can’t cover hand tool safety in one meeting. However, you can cover one specific hand tool in a short meeting. AGAIN – what’s important? YOU ARE CREATING SAFETY AWARENESS

Benefits Of Toolbox Meetings Addresses the Duty of Care Laws Helps reduce risk of incidents and near misses Can actually eliminate workplace hazards Encourages reporting of incidents Can provide evidence to show that measures to identify and reduce risks have been taken Why could this be of importance? Offers variety to work schedule

Causes associates to think about expensive and time wasting incidents – e.g., slips, trips, falls, poor housekeeping, failure to conduct pre-start safety checks Toolbox meetings can be built up – to offer a progressive pathway from basic reminders to more advanced safety training Most importantly – YOU ARE CREATING AWARENESS

Topics So, tell me Dan, what can I talk about? Where can I get these toolbox topics? There are numerous topics you can cover. HR has a folder of over 60 toolbox topics for the supervisors that need them.

Remember, safety is 50% awareness and 50% physical action. If you have the awareness, the physical action will follow suit. No awareness, no safety!

Hazard Identification Why is so important that hazards are identified? To prevent accidents!

What exactly do we mean by hazard identification? We mean the hazards that exist in your work area that are “constant.” Each work area has it’s own unique set of constant hazards.

Constant hazards are things like: Pinch points on conveyors Electrical hazards Holes in the floor Trip hazards Forklift traffic Overhead crane usage Fluids leaking from machines The use of sharp hand tools Chemicals

Identification & Recognition You cannot prevent accidents in your work area from physical hazards if you have not identified the hazards. You cannot expect your associates to stay clear of hazards if you have not told them (recognized) the hazards.

So we know the importance of identifying and recognizing the hazards in our work areas, but how do go about communicating this information to your associates? Form a team of your associates in your area to identify the hazards Document the hazards Remind the group each week of the constant and new hazards each week during your toolbox meeting

Or; Post your hazards on a board in your area. This also will alert others to your hazards Cover the hazards in your pre-shift meetings or production meetings

The best way to avoid a hazard is to rid yourself of the hazard. Ask maintenance to correct the problem Change procedures Engineer out the problem Never put production over safety!

Changing Hazards Hazards may change daily. Parts stacked in an unusual place New processes New job assignment New tools Maintenance work being performed

New Associates 60% of accidents happen to new associates in the first 90 days of employment.

New employee orientation/safety training is not enough! You must brief your new associates on all the identified hazards in your work area before they start work Stress the importance of working safely

Cost Avoidance Toolbox meetings are “added value” to your safety program. They are a cost effective method to help reduce your workers compensation cost. Let’s look at some hard dollar facts.

1999 – 24 - $142, – , – , – , – ,500 Difference in one year 2002 vs 2003 $551,550

Premium Effect 3 year average/SIC code New client premium estimated - based on # of man hours worked Future premium reductions as claims drop Example: Average premium for SIC with the history of claims made over the last 3 years = $350,000 to $400,000 per year. Possibly save as much $35,000 - $50,000

Thank you for working safely!