Across my career I’ve worked with teams operating in high-risk sectors - engineering, construction, maintenance and manufacturing to name a few.
In these types of environments where health, safety and wellbeing are a priority, I’ve often been in meetings where the chair has begun the session with a five-minute ‘Safety Moment’. This informal, brief discussion on a specific topic acts almost as a ‘safety focus’, giving everyone in the meeting a space to pause, reflect and consciously think about safety and wellbeing.
These ‘moments’ can cover any subject to do with safety or wellbeing and there’s usually no defined script that needs to be covered, but it must be useful, meaningful and relevant. Each person takes turn to present their own ‘Safety Moment’ in each meeting, so everyone has the chance to share.
I’ve been involved in discussions about not texting while driving, looking out for fire hazards, a discussion about safely boarding an aircraft in the rain as well as people sharing their own personal stories.
I found that when it became a habit in teams, Safety Moments have given everyone the space to talk about something that was important to them. And it gave people the confidence to get into the habit of openly talking about safety, health and wellbeing.
Could this approach work for you?
I recently ran a workshop with an engineering leadership team and our safety moment at the start of the workshop was on trip hazards – sparked by the observation that the position of my flipchart was about to create one.
This made me think - how could other organisations use this concept to have an informal conversation at the start of meetings, create a pause for a check-in and find out how everyone’s doing? With everything that’s happening in the world right now, it feels like this could be a great opportunity for anyone, regardless of the sector they’re in.
So, if you’re not already running something like a Safety Moment at the start of your meetings and based on my own experiences, here are four ideas that could help you get started:
Think about different ways to present or share. As an example, I’ve told a personal story and I’ve seen a magazine article on the subject of mindfulness shared which started a discussion. Ask people to think about how they want to present their safety moment.
Give a heads up on the subject. for example, if it's around the topic of mental health, people may need to prepare themselves or even leave if they don’t want to be part of that conversation.
Keep it brief. Sometimes Safety Moments can generate lots of discussion so try to keep the conversation on track and stay aware of the time you have available. If people want to carry on the conversation, take it into a separate meeting.
Make it interesting and don’t just do it for the sake of it Think about sharing a breathing exercise or a cooking app that you that you’ve found helpful for example. Ask yourself – “what would I take away from this?” and, “where would I apply this in my own life or work?”
Although Safety Moments have their foundations in developing a strong safety culture, they are just as much about engaging people to think about how they look after themselves, their teams and the organisation as a whole. They’re a brilliant opportunity to get people talking and sharing.
If you already have Safety Moments in your organisational culture, I’d love to hear what works well for you. And, if you’re going to try this approach, it would be great to find out how you get on.