Safety briefings

I was asked a while back about why I thought Safety briefings had become nothing more than a box-ticking exercise and what I would do to change that.

My response centred around a sub-contractor briefing, I attended back around 2021 on the HPC scope.

The supervisor was briefing his, 24 strong, team on the task at hand which was the final pour on one of the massive pre-cast intake heads that were being poured. The final pour was not large, but it was a technical effort due to the shape and so had a specific pour rate. Cranes, pumps and concrete skips would be used and as such people needed to know timings, who would control what equipment and what the mitigations were to all of the risk that may be encountered during the upcoming shift.

All of these issues were covered. Effectively. To the point. Questions were asked of the team. Answers were given. None of the above was (I felt) because I was in attendance. These were hardened construction folk that would speak, irrespective of whether a devilishly handsome senior construction resource was in attendance or not. The briefing was a two way effort and I felt that people knew what they needed to know. I'd been to briefings like that many times before. But I also knew that this "felt" different. However, I could not put my finger on why.

I watched the team go about their business. Exclusions zones set up. Commands being given and followed. People, simply, getting it done.

As I watched, I heard a huge explosion of laughter. I looked around to see the supervisor and two of his team almost uncontrollably laughing. Someone had said something that spread laughter amongst these three folk, which quickly spread to 2 or 3 others. This team enjoyed each other’s company. This team got on.

Then it hit me. This team looked forward to being briefed by their supervisor. When he engaged them, he did so as a colleague, not a boss. When he asked a question, he did so as a "quiz master", not a teacher. When they got an answer wrong, he corrected them through support as opposed to ridicule. It was an "Adult-to-Adult" communication as opposed to a "Parent-to-child" effort.

The team was respected and supported by their supervisor. They had a voice. They had a leader.

Boxes were still ticked that morning. But even the boxes were smiling after that briefing!!!