9 Topics to Include in Your Safety Huddles

Regular safety huddles are anything but routine. Their value comes directly from the topics you discuss, advice you provide, and engagement you receive from your employees. Otherwise, what’s the point in having a safety huddle to begin with?

If you’re looking to add value to your daily or weekly meetings, we’ve got you covered with nine of the most important safety topics across all industries.

#1 – Choosing the Right Work Gloves

Not all gloves are created equally. Your company may offer a variety of work gloves to employees, but it’s essential they know what types are best suited for certain jobs and where they can locate them. Check out this article on work safety gloves for more insights.

#2 – Spotting Slip, Trip, and Fall Hazards

Identifying hazards before they turn into incidents will benefit every single member in your organization. Since slips, trips, and falls remain one of the top causes of injuries across organizations, it’s important you bring this danger to the attention of your team.

Show them what hazards look like and how they can fix them before someone has an accident. It’s also a good idea to encourage employees to make it a habit to look for hazards daily.

#3 – What Are Workplace Ergonomics?

Most people know to sit up straight at a desk and lift items with their knees, not their backs. But workplace ergonomics encompasses so much more than most people’s basic knowledge of posture and movement. Share tips and insights on how they incorporate better ergonomics into their job and the risks associated with failing to do so.

#4 – Accident Prediction Techniques

Not all accidents can be prevented, but many of them can be. Workers need to know the weight of their actions and what could happen through carelessness and lack of planning. Share with them some ways to prevent accidents from occurring on the job site.

#5 – How to Record Workplace Observations

If you have a process in place to record workplace observations, make sure your team knows when and how to use it. Workplace safety observations can help you gain deeper insight into your safety program so you know where to make improvements. Talk about why observations are important to the company and to individual safety and how they can get involved in sharing their findings.

#6 – The Correct Way to Use a Fire Extinguisher

Fire extinguishers aren’t as intuitive as you might think. Not only are there different designs, but they are also different contents within extinguishers and should be used for the right purposes. Go through some basic fire safety tips, including the proper way to use a fire extinguisher—it could save their life!

We covered this topic in a previous article, so feel free to share it at your safety huddle.

#7 – Injury Prevention Tips

Injury prevention in the workplace is important. Many injuries can be avoided with a little foresight, so take some time to discuss what workers can do to protect themselves. For example, you might some easy stretches they can do to avoid pulled muscles or back pain. Or, you might mention how speed increases their risk of an accident at work.

#8 – Emergency Planning and Execution

Hopefully, you’ll never need to follow a fire escape route. But if emergencies or disasters do occur, you’ll have peace of mind in knowing your people know exactly what to do. Use your safety huddle to talk about what to do in the event of an emergency, such as a fire, tornado, or chemical spill. Talk about the importance of staying calm during the situation, how to get to safety, how to call for help, and what to do when the danger is over.

#9 – Why Near Misses Shouldn’t Be Ignored

Many workers think that narrowly avoiding accidents doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but as an EHS professional, you know it does. Talk about why near misses are learning opportunities and what workers should do in the event of a near miss.

Make Your Safety Huddles Efficient and Effective

Need more daily safety inspiration? Head back to our safety blog for more top safety tips, industry insights, and useful information that you can put to work in your company every day.

Further reading: How to Plan Effective Safety Meetings