Toolbox talks procedure

Toolbox talks are meetings held to communicate health, safety, environmental and operational matters and reinforce the importance of safety.

Ongoing communication, education and awareness are essential for reducing incidents in our workplaces.

Toolbox meetings

Toolbox meetings allow for delivery of a clear and consistent message about business initiatives, changes to process and other matters that impact health and safety. The meetings encourage integrity, inclusiveness, safety awareness and teamwork.

The meetings:

• make employees more aware of and interested in safety at work
• educate employees in safe working practices
• encourage discussion to promote a wide range of viewpoints
• develop preventative measures to safety
• enable sharing of incidents and workplace procedural changes.

Toolbox talks cover a wide range of topics from workplace electrical safety to lifting basics. They help create and an environment to discuss task specific or timely safety communications, identify problems or highlight specific safety concerns/risks.

Process

Toolbox talks should take around 5-10 minutes and focus on one topic relevant to the work being carried out that day.

The toolbox talk will:

• cover a topic relevant to the job and/or hazards identified
• encourage open discussion on matters such as changes to work, hazards identified, good safety practices observed, safety improvement ideas and other matters that impact on work.

The person leading the meeting will follow up actions raised at the meeting.

A report shall be completed to verify attendance, topic, date, location, topic summary, outcomes and any actions to be taken and sent to the construction manager.

Toolbox talks with a safety focus will be held on a regular basis, at a minimum of once per month.

Once a project is underway, toolbox talks will be held daily.