In order to make employees understand the importance of office safety, it becomes the responsibility of the management to make sure that the meetings that they hold for the purpose are sufficiently interesting, so that the employees actually feel like attending them. This article has some of those for you.
Office safety is something that should not be taken lightly at all. Almost everything that we use in our workplace can be a potential hazard to us or someone around us. Something as simple as a sharpened pencil fallen on the floor can poke someone and cause severe distress. Switches left on can cause an electric shock to an unsuspecting person who happens to touch it by mistake. Such small and simple things can turn out to be quite hazardous to the person, not to mention cost a lot of money to the employer. Hence, it is necessary that safety meetings are held regularly at offices. Unfortunately, it is often seen that these meetings are never taken seriously. It is considered a waste of time that could have been spent completing one’s work. Hence, to make these meetings more interesting and to encourage more participation from employees, this article will give you some good safety meeting ideas that you can implement in the next safety meeting that you have.
Creative Ways to Make Safety Meetings Fun
There are numerous safety topics that need to be discussed at work. All these simply cannot be discussed at once and within one meeting. Though the aim is to better equip the employees with solutions and escapes from possible hazards, there is no need for these meetings to be monotonous and boring. You can discuss office safety topics even in an interesting manner. Ideas on that is exactly what you’ll find in the sections below. Try them and see the response you get from the employees.
| Creative Office Safety Meeting Ideas | |
| Games | If you want to get your employees involved in an issue, games are the best way to do it. No one can resist playing some games. They are a welcome break from the working schedule and are also a lot of fun. Plan some games that revolve around office safety tips and the like. Role playing could be one option that you can explore. You could also have other games that require the employees to use their common sense to decipher simple clues and reach solutions to problems. |
| Competitions | Another thing that you can try to make your safety meeting interesting is have different types of competitions held as a part of the meeting. It could be a safety quiz with the employees divided into teams. You can also have a situational competition wherein you put forth the same safety hazard to the different teams and the team that comes up with the most logical, practical and cost-effective solution within the shortest time span wins. You can also have simple question and answer, multiple choices, individual quizzes to judge how well the employees know the existing safety measures in your office. |
| Field Trips | If you’re ready to take the meeting somewhere out of the office premises, then a field trip is a perfect idea. It does not have to be a boring one where all employees are herded around. You can organize a visit to a leading medical institute or a visit to the fire department. There they can get hands on experience of how to handle different situations and equipment. Then you can proceed with your office-specific instructions on how to do the same. |
| Movie Screening | An audio visual medium is one of the best ways to get your point across. It is the same with your office employees. You can pick out documentaries or movies that revolve around safety management and have them screened at your workplace. You can also make your own office-specific movie about safety in and around your own office. You can ask your employees themselves to make this movie. You can also use the camera feeds in your office to compile a dos and don’ts sort of video for the screening. |
| Fake Hazard | Another thing that you can do is somewhat like a mock fire drill. Have the fire alarms go off intentionally, and when the employees get alerted, don’t inform them that it is a drill. Let the chaos and confusion continue and see how well they handle the situation. When they’re all finally out, guide them back inside and conduct a meeting, showing them why it is important that they follow safety measures. Also give them each a copy of a safety checklist that you can prepare in advance. |
Some Safety Topics to Discuss
Now that you have some idea of what you can do to make your safety meeting a little bit more interesting, let us have a look at some topics that you can touch upon in these safety meetings.
- Fire safety
- Safety precautions in case of a natural calamity
- Precautions against chemical exposure
- Managing a bomb threat
- What to do in case of a lock-down
- The different safety signs and symbols and what they mean
- Internet safety
- Prevention of slips and falls
- Basic first-aid training
- Use of electrical appliances at work
There are many more topics that can be discussed at a safety meeting. Whether it is about construction safety or any other topic, if the meeting itself is not interesting or riveting enough, the employees simply won’t pay enough attention and won’t give it the importance that it deserves. So, use any of the ideas given above and see the response that you receive.