Everyone loves it when the safety walkthrough crew comes around to check on their working environment. Extra points if they're carrying a clipboard (always ominous), stopping frequently to discuss things in low voices, and making a lot of notes.
While you might not get everyone's attitudes to turn around about safety walkthroughs right away, there are some ways to make them a little more successful.
Let's back up a few steps before we share our tips. First, what is a safety walkthrough and why are they being done?
Safety walkthroughs are an opportunity for personnel to make sure all the safety requirements are being fulfilled in a facility. They are often paired with fire extinguisher inspections (should be done monthly) and exit sign checks (monthly too), but they check on a variety of different components, depending on your facility and hazards. Common denominators also usually include exits and electrical panels (are they blocked?), general housekeeping, and inspection records on specific equipment like forklifts.
Many checklists exist and TT&S is happy to provide you with options if you're seeking one.
However, these safety walkthroughs also provide a great opportunity to think about hazards that maybe haven't been raised yet or that have escaped the checklist over the years. Let's talk about how to get the most out of safety walkthroughs.
1. Schedule along with requirements
A goal without a deadline can become pretty hard to execute. However, OSHA requirements can help set the pace. As mentioned above, both fire extinguishers and exit signs must be checked once a month, so many companies set up a monthly walkthrough. Someone will be going through anyway to check the extinguishers and signs, so may as well do the whole thing. This is also a great way to execute "habit stacking," which is adding a new habit by incorporating it into an already existing routine.
Quarterly inspections are another popular cadence for the walkthroughs. If that pace works better for your company, then you could plan to schedule a safety walkthrough along with every third fire extinguisher / exit sign inspection.
2. Rotate group members
Many times it is one facilities person who is conducting these walkthroughs, but this could be a great opportunity to leverage the unique knowledge and experience of your employees. Have one or two other people go along with the regular inspector, and rotate through the company. You might be surprised at what surfaces. Could be that someone from accounting served on their volunteer fire crew and has a lot to suggest, and everyone is usually happy to contribute their expertise to the cause.
3. Cross-training opportunity for employees
Along the same vein, this can create cross-training and even networking opportunities for employees across the company. Maybe the new receptionist hasn't spent much time in the warehouse, but after the walkthrough is better prepared to answer an unexpected question. Or maybe employees from two different department that don't interact much have an opportunity to get to know each other and work together on a safety solution. A win-win all around.
4. Leave space for the unexpected
It's great to start with a checklist of items that always need to be checked, but this is a perfect opportunity to also think about hazards that haven't made it on the list yet. Especially if you're having other employees rotate on your safety walkthroughs, you may find there are new items for consideration.
5. Have a plan for what happens next
One of the greatest pitfalls is having a productive walkthrough with action items addressing several safety issues, and then having that list sit on someone's desk for months because a procedure hasn't been established for dealing with the aftermath. It's important to know whether decisions need to be made about how to deal with certain items, who will follow the throughline on making sure the decisions get made, as well as who will follow up to make sure the final changes are implemented. If it can be made a recurring agenda item on leadership or facilities meetings, many times that helps to move these things forward.
There you have it! One of those win-win-win arrangements that tends to reap a lot of great benefits, but like with any other change, can be hard to initiate, maintain, and get buy-in from employees. Over time, we suspect you'll see great success from a system like this, and if you have any questions about the process, please feel free to reach out.
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