What is a Toolbox Meeting?
The basic idea of a toolbox meeting (also known as a toolbox talk) is to conduct an informal meeting for discussing safety topics related to a particular job or project, such as safe work practices and worksite risks. Ideally a toolbox meeting consists of a relevant health and safety discussion for about 5-10 minutes prior to the work is conducted. The most appealing component about these safety meeting is that they are simple to implement and carry out, yet a very efficient and useful method for sharing valuable information among the workers in regards to workplace hazards related to a job. One cannot deny its worth across industries, as it is an effective approach for putting emphasis on safety culture.
How to Conduct a Toolbox Meeting?
The biggest benefit of conducting a toolbox meeting is that the likelihood of workplace incidents is reduced considerably by organising brief but regular safety meetings. In most of the cases the toolbox meetings are led by the supervisor and all individuals reporting to that supervisor will attend this toolbox talk. Supervisors may have to conduct several meetings if various teams or team members are spread out across the workplace. This is to ensure all workers can be present and has received the required information.
One key aspect to be noted is that it does not imply in any sense to not involve the employees as the supervisor leads the meeting, in fact toolbox meeting which involved interactive session are proven to be more efficient.
Although toolbox meeting is usually conducted on the workplace, these meetings can easily be performed in other locations as well. The only important thing in this perspective is to make sure it is conducted where the workers feel comfortable and won’t be sidetracked easily by other things.
Topics for the Toolbox Meeting
Those organisations in which majority of employees are limited to only work in offices can also use this effective tool on important issues like disease prevention, mental health, office safety, workplace stress, and safe driving.
There are no limitations to what topics can be covered in a toolbox talk, the key factor is that it is relevant to the work being carried out and that it covers health and safety risks and controls related to the work. A key aspect for toolbox meetings which should be kept in mind, is that it should trigger discussions related to mitigating risks applicable to the expected work activities. It is also a good approach to consider different source when developing toolbox talks such as feedback from workers, modifications in the jobsite, or accidents that have happened on the workplace. One thing to keep in mind is, sometimes it is the most basic issues that need to be covered.
When to Conduct the Toolbox Talk
In addition to that, the frequency of toolbox meetings mostly depends on the particular industry entity and its employees. Nevertheless, an ideal approach that goes in the favor of most organisations is to conduct a weekly toolbox meeting as a minimum. Likewise, it can also be suitable to conduct a monthly toolbox meeting for those entities that experience workplace hazards in low frequency.
Recording Attendance
Another point to consider is how to record attendance and document competence. However, it must be kept in mid that the system to record attendance must be implemented in a way which appears not to be complicated for the workers or use too much admin resources. A simple way is to pass around an attendance sheet or assign person to record the names of every person present at the safety meeting. More to the point, on the sign-in sheet an appropriate record of the discussed topic, date and location must be assured by the supervisor.
During the Toolbox Meeting
Furthermore, it holds paramount value to completely stay focused on the specific topic selected for the safety meeting. If another significant topic surfaces during the discussion and an immediate response isn’t required at the time, then it is beneficial to set it as the next toolbox topic. An effective and efficient toolbox talk reassures teamwork, questions and answers and should take account of particular worker input and experience. In a nutshell, a toolbox meeting is actually a team effort.
If you need to provide toolbox talks at work on a regular basis, then our toolbox talk packages which include a range of toolbox talks at a cost effective price might be of interest to you.
