Scheduling – Ten Elements of an Effective Safety Kickoff Volume Nine by Safety Speaker John Drebinger
Ten Elements of Creating an Effective Safety Kickoff
#9 Scheduling – Tuesday, November 8th
When Is The Best Time To Hold A Safety Kickoff?
Simple, any time all your people can attend. Now, I know logistically that is a challenge for some of you. Because of your operations, it is impractical to get everyone together all at one time. You need a big place to hold everyone. You would have to shut down operations.
Some companies actually do a safety stand down day where they do nothing but health and safety events. This is great if you can do it.
More commonly, safety teams schedule two to three meetings per day for one or a series of days in order to allow all shifts to attend. I am pleased to say I have done many presentations after 11pm at night so that we were able to involve the night shift. Making it possible for them to enjoy the same kickoff as everyone else does a lot for morale and lets them know you really care about them.
My marketing director, Diane Weiss, is an expert at scheduling and she can share with you the different ways our clients have made it possible for everyone to be a part of your kickoff. Not every speaker is willing to adapt to multiple shifts, but I can.
Also, location is not critical. I have spoken next to a turbine at a hydroelectric dam on the Columbia River. One construction supply company used a stack of sheet rock as a stage with rails. Turnaround or Outage lunchroom tents have served as my speaking venue many times over the years. One refinery rented chairs and used their firehouse to hold the meeting. I am sure you get my point. I can speak anywhere and as long as you get me in front of an audience, I can help them work safely.
Should Attendance at Safety Kickoffs and Meetings be Mandatory?
As with much of safety communication, congruency tells the real story. The answer for me is achieved by asking a follow-up question. Are your marketing meetings mandatory? If all your other departmental meetings are mandatory, and if safety isn’t, it sends the message that safety isn’t one of your company’s corporate values.
I actually prefer mandatory meetings, as that way I know no one will miss my message. It is so frustrating for me to be leaving a site heading for the airport and finding myself talking with someone in the parking lot who asks if I will be doing meetings the next day because they heard how great it was and now they want to attend.
Lunch Versus a Dedicated Meeting
Safety and the messages you want to get across are far too important to stack on top of lunch unless the presentation is done after or before everyone has eaten. The distractions are just too great. Have I done luncheon presentations? Yes, but I know they are less effective than they could be. Once again, it speaks of the value your leadership puts on safety. If there isn’t time to do it right then everyone understands that safety takes a back seat to everything else.
Call Diane to find out the best schedule for your safety kickoff at 209-745-9419.
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This newsletter is the 9th in a series of ten on how to have an effective safety kickoff. If you would like to share any of these articles go to http://www.drebinger.com/?page_id=690
where they have been posted on my daily blog. When reprinting or emailing please include credit to: John Drebinger Presentations 209-745-9419 and www.drebinger.com
Outcome Based Presentations For Your Safety Kickoff
“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?”
We tell everyone that they should be their “brothers keeper” and yet we don’t teach them how to do it. This presentation which accompanies my new book by the same title is designed to create a culture in your workplace where watching out for each other is the norm rather than the exception.
“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?” will:
• Give people the five reasons they should watch out for the safety of others.
• Explain the three reasons people fail to watch out for the safety of others and then give them a perspective that will allow them to overcome the obstacles that keep people from helping others.
• Give them specific techniques they can use immediately to share safety with someone else in a way both people will feel great.
• Finally the most important lesson of the presentation is showing people how to respond when someone watches out for their safety. This lesson ensures that people will continue to watch out for each other and will seek out ways to watch out for the safety of their fellow worker.
This presentation is so powerful that John has written a book by the same title that is provided for each attendee so they can review what they have learned and share it with their family and friends. It has been so well-received that we have already made our second printing of 5,000 copies only four months after our releasing the book.
“Ensure Your Safety”
If you want people to take personal responsibility for their own safety on and off the job this presentation is for you.
Your employees will learn:
• Why they need to take personal responsibility for their own safety.
• How to stay focused in order to ensure safe performance.
• How distractions impact their personal safety.
• How to regain their focus on safety when distractions get in the way.
• Why they want to avoid shortcuts for themselves and others.
Everyone will develop a positive association between safety and their job and understand how working safely directly benefits them and their families, today and in the future. Using magic, group participation, specific safety principles and universal truths, John will show the seasoned worker why they play a vital role in helping the “new guy” work safely by avoiding shortcuts and doing everything the safest way we know how.
John shows them why using the appropriate personal protective equipment ensures their safety even when machinery fails or human errors occur. This presentation covers safety from the time they leave home to driving safely back to their family at the end of the day.
His unique presentation breaks through the mindset of, “We have heard it all before.” His magic captures their attention, and the message they hear will make them take action resulting in fewer injuries.
“Safety as a Value”
In this completely different program, John shows your employees how to improve their own safety by sending the right message via their actions and words at work and home.
Your Employees Will Learn:
• What their real values are.
• How to convey those values to their family and friends.
• Safety is a value for everyone.
The key to his insightful approach is the premise that safety must be a personal value, and that values don’t change when conditions change, even in tough times. John will help your people raise their expectations, vision, passion, and energy to work safely and make a safer and more productive workplace.
With new stories and magic, this presentation will help your employees continue their enthusiasm and focus toward another year of safety success!
What do you want from a safety presentation?
• People to walk out saying, “That was the best safety meeting they have ever attended.”
• Everyone to talk about the safety meeting long after it is over.
• You want all of the above and most of all you want to get results. It doesn’t matter if everyone loved the speaker, their message, and yet they don’t change how they work.
John Drebinger is the only top safety speaker specifically trained to deliver an effective message. In addition to his Bachelors degree in Speech he has been a member of the National Speaker’s Association for over 16 years and has attended seminars from some of the most effective communicators in the nation.
From the descriptions listed above you have already noticed something that separates John Drebinger from other professional safety speakers. As an author and speaker he has many different presentations he can do for your employees. To help you deliver your safety message John customizes each of his presentations to convey your theme and concepts. Unlike many other safety speakers who have only one speech or story to tell, John has developed presentations that build on each other to help you improve your safety performance.
Logistics
John can do multiple presentations during the day so that all your shifts can hear his outstanding message. Diane Weiss his marketing director can help you with your scheduling as she has worked with hundreds of companies over the past twenty-one years and knows what will serve you best.
John’s presentations can be done in virtually any location. If you can safely gather an audience he can get his message to them.
These presentations are designed for employee meetings with 45 minutes to 1-hour time available.
