Having a daily 5-minute safety talk can reduce safety incidents for your team and reduce paperwork.  Click here to speak with an ACUTE safety professional to help you plan your next safety talk. Employers must not only meet regulatory requirements but also ensure employees get the best hands-on training. For companies who are serious about safety, ACUTE recommends having a daily safety talk to reduce injuries and accidents in the workplace. The OHSA (see Pike Industries) reported that a paving company who implemented even a weekly safety talk did not encounter highway accidents despite traveling 2 million miles!

Here is what a recent customer had to say about their experience engaging ACUTE as their training provider:

“For over 20 years, Ron Campbell and the professional team at ACUTE have helped us develop a continuously improving safety program customized to our unique needs in environmental testing and renewable energy services. We are proud of our safety culture and record supported by ACUTE training services.” – Hank

See here for more reviews.

Take ownership of your employees’ health and safety by getting them the best health and safety training available in Ontario. People are ultimately what makes good companies great, so health and safety are non-negotiable, and together we can lower the number of fines handed out to local business which came to over $6M for 2016.

Misconceptions About Having a Safety Talk

Changes are always difficult, particularly for organizations who are swamped with work or who have a laissez-faire attitude towards safety. At the end of the day, however, safety benefits everyone and helps keep professional organizations competitive. A safety talk is a short meeting at a work site where there are people working amidst safety hazards. Here are some of the top misconceptions of a safety talk:

1. Having a safety talk is a waste of time: safety talks help people be more alert and work safer on a day to day basis.
2. Having a safety talk detracts from real work: doing the job well and safely are fundamental to every work process.
3. Safety talks cover information employees already know: some experienced members may know a lot about the safety topics you are covering. Incorporate them into the discussion and have them share their experiences.
4. Safety talks aren’t practical: safety talks are opportunities to feature live demonstration and application challenges that help ensure safety concepts make a difference in daily work.
5. Safety talks aren’t required in this work site: a safety talk is applicable to all industries and offices and has been proven to reduce rates of injuries and fatalities.

Anatomy of a Safety Talk

A safety talk is important because it helps workers do their job both better and safer, translating into a personal and team win for all. Here is what is entailed in a safety talk.

What: A safety talk is usually 15-30 minutes focused on one particular topic, often including the following items:

• Recognition of team members for doing work safely
• Topic introduction
• A walk through hazards and best practices
• Involvement of a team member to help demonstrate equipment or safety practices
• Contributions from experienced team members on what works in practice
• Challenge for team members to do one thing different as part of the talk

When: A safety talk is best held at the beginning of a shift during the morning or at lunch when the team is refueling. At best the talk should be held each day, while organization can also opt to do longer weekly safety talks.

Where: Find a location that is comfortable for the attendees and also reduces background noise so the discussion can flow freely.

How: Face to face is the best way to holding a safety talk.

Successful Safety Talks

Here are the top things that make or break a workplace safety talk.  Make sure you incorporate these principles to ensure impact:

• Balance engagement with schedule: some discussion topics will get lots of participation and it’s the job of a facilitator or health and safety representative to balance engagement and to manage the clock.
• Use role playing: demonstrations and role-playing are powerful tools to freshen up existing safety principles and information.
• Incorporate a call to action: encourage your team to think of one way to do things differently to improve the health and safety quality of their own and other team members’ work.
• Invite guest speakers to attend: if employees can see that leaders in your company care about their safety, they’ll know it’s an important area, and team members will feel more connected and better cared for.
• Share real stories: inviting employees who have had a close call or past workers who have been injured to speak is a great way to connect theory with experience.

Timeless Safety Talk Topics

There are some topics that never get old in the area of Safety Talks and here is a sampling of key topics that can help your team members right away:

Does your team know how to spot, rectify, and communicate a hazard before it becomes an incident? Have the safety talk they need and get your team hazard-ready with ACUTE’s safety awareness training.

Does your team know how to manage hazards even before they are encountered? ACUTE’s Safety Awareness Training for managers helps control the hazard instead of managing accidents and injuries.

Employees are running up against low oxygen levels, visibility issues, and invisible gasses: confined space safety is a great topic to cover. Get ACUTE’s Confined Space training to help your team take the risk out of working in tight spots.

Working at heights doesn’t mean you need to elevate the risks associated with the job. Working at heights creates too many injuries and accidentals already in Ontario. Join ACUTE in helping Ontario eliminate working at height accidents and take an industry-proven working at heights course today.

Get your team prepared to deal with the most difficult spills while stewarding their health and the environment. The first 5 minutes of a spill incident are crucial, so learn how your team can make the difference between spill control and contamination. ACUTE equips and trains professionals to deal with spill nightmares with our Spill Response Training.

ACUTE Takes Ownership of your Company’s Most Pressing Safety Challenge

Whether it’s helping you plan a safety talk program or training, getting a committed safety training specialist can help position organizations for a sustained low-incident safety culture. ACUTE not only meets government requirements but strives to provide quality, hands-on, and industry-tailored training to each of their clients. ACUTE offers access to Ontario’s cutting-edge training facility, which has hosted numerous provincial agencies. Here are some of the ways that ACUTE goes beyond government compliance in Ontario health and safety training.

• Open Door Instructor-Student Partnership:
  ACUTE’s training services emphasize client participation. Staff foster relationships with clients and serve as a touchstone for advice moving forward.
• Serving Your Team and Industry: With a vast array of clients in manufacturing, construction, health, academic, and government sectors, ACUTE brings the best safety practices from across the spectrum to your workplace.
• 100 Years Combined Experience: ACUTE provides comprehensive health and safety training, on-site safety services, and consulting services. With over 100 years of combined experience, our staff offers more than theoretical or abstract ideas. ACUTE offers solutions.
• Track Record of Success: ACUTE is rated 4.9/5 stars on Google reviews, demonstrating a commitment to our clients, quality, and a passion for training.

Contact us today for quality training in your workplace or on-site at ACUTE’s proven training facilities!