Making Safety Engaging: How to Lead Great Safety Meetings

Brian J Riker 

We’ve all heard the same tired slogans—“Safety first” or “Safety always”—so many times that they’ve lost all meaning. The topic of safety can be dull as drying paint if not presented properly. So, I challenge you to make it fun again. What can you do? 

Safety shouldn’t be confined to a department or a job title—it needs to be woven into the fabric of your entire organization. From the equipment you buy and the jobs you take on, to the level of support and autonomy you give your team, everything should be viewed through the lens of, "Is this a necessary risk, or can we make it safer?" So, how do you reach that point? 

It all begins with a positive attitude towards safety. Men, yes, I am singling out men, have an ego about themselves that causes us to take extra risks and tackle the job no matter the cost. Our female counterparts tend to have a better risk filter built in and often complete the same task with a much lower risk factor. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2023, the most recent data available, there were 5,283 fatal workplace injuries among male workers and only 447 deaths among females. 

Employee engagement is key

Listen, truly listen to what your team is saying about their concerns. Understanding what they see daily will help you present the critical points in a way they will understand and feel ownership of. Oftentimes attendees are in these meetings against their will or feel the material being presented is not relevant to their “real world” job duties. As a safety educator it is your job to read your audience and find ways to get, and keep, them engaged. 

Don’t relive the past constantly 

We all have those moments where something horrible happened, equipment was damaged, and people were hurt. While it is important to study these events and learn from them, do not focus an entire safety meeting on just one bad event. This will shut everyone down and they will tune out - even when great solutions have been offered. Instead, touch upon the key points while also pointing out what has been done correctly. 

Reward positive behavior

No one likes to be yelled at constantly, so actively try to catch your team doing things right and make a big deal out of it. Gift cards or other positive recognition will go a long way to supporting a safety culture. Extend this behavior to your training and safety meetings. Maybe include a game show style quiz or other form of funny, lighthearted and entertaining engagement. 

Nobody wants to sit through a one-sided lecture on safety and compliance 

Keep your training and safety meetings engaging, ask questions and do not demean somebody for giving a wrong answer. It takes a lot of courage to speak up and answer a question in front of peers. Not many people are comfortable being put on the spot. Have compassion and be gentle when explaining why their answer or response was incorrect. 

Humor is a very helpful tool 

Mind you, funny is something light and entertaining, not gross or showing serious injury. Get the group to talk about what could have happened in the clip that would have made it a very serious mistake and how they think it could have been prevented. There was an old Caterpillar training video series called “Shake Hands With Danger” that really showcased this type of humor as education model. Take a moment and watch some clips on YouTube; they are entertaining and still mostly relevant today. 

Training must be relevant to the actual tasks at hand 

Nobody likes to feel like their time is being wasted so keep the material focused on tasks and not a lot of general awareness information. Don’t try to cram everything into one session or meeting. Your tow truck operators only have limited overlap with your shop mechanics or dispatchers, so they should each have focused presentations or separate meetings. Yes, under the general duty clause of the OSH Act all employees require a basic understanding of workplace safety, however nothing says that can’t be customized for each department. 

Modern solutions for age-old problems

A key principle of adult learning is active participation. How about having your team create their own safety video clips?  These can be as simple as shooting video of real safety issues they find around their workplace or maybe creating something “unsafe” just for the purpose of the video clip. Note, no one should ever deliberately put themselves or another person in danger just to film a video clip; however, “unsafe” acts can be safely staged for the camera. 

Bottom line, no one cares about your own safety more than you should, except perhaps your momma and spouse, so at the end of the day it really is up to each of you, individually, to do your part for safety. 

Remember, mere compliance with the regulations and best practices does not always mean safety is guaranteed. You still must be alert, aware and active in providing the safest possible environment for everyone, including yourself.