Train to minimise risk
December 1st 2007

Train to minimise riskHaving a good health and safety policy is a necessity within the construction industry but simply having a piece of paper isn't enough.

Christine Hardy, training and development manager at Finning Group, offers some practical advice on how to drill home the health and safety message The UK construction industry provides a tenth of the UK's gross domestic product and employs more than 1.4 million people. With the 2012 Olympics being staged in London and the Government planning to build another threemillion new homes by 2020, the number of people employed will almost certainly increase, but this must not come at the expense of lives.

Last year, construction related fatalities accounted for about 32% of the total number of workplace fatalities. As an industry we must address this to ensure that when employees turn up for work, they do so in the knowledge that they will go home safely at the end of each day. We have seen significant improvements in recent years, but this needs to be continued. Now is not the time for employers to become complacent and simply respond to the next batch of legislation to come out of the EU. We must be proactive in our approach and continue to send home the safety message to employees through effective training.

Start as you mean to go on With an ever present skills gap, many construction firms have started to recruit from other EU countries to plug the gap; this, combined with high staff turnover, means that on a daily basis, companies are opening their doors to scores of new recruits. It is at this point that employers should act, making health and safety an integral part of the induction training. In addition, companies should reinduct those employees moving job or moving site to ensure that health and safety is always front of mind.

Walk the talk There are a number of different ways in which we can train staff, the most straightforward being to hold workshops and safety presentations but it cannot stop there.

Businesses need to make health and safety part of the day-to-day activities and to do this leadership is essential.

Mangers should be encouraged to hold regular health and safety reviews at meetings, communicate key messages to their teams and hold frequent on the job short coaching sessions.

When a hazard is identified by senior members of staff, they should not only resolve the issue, but discuss the potential dangers with the rest of the team. Doing so and demonstrating buy-in from senior managers sends a powerful message to the workforce. Furthermore, clearly illustrating the reasons why people are asked to follow health and safety procedures enables greater understanding of the dangers of not doing so. As a result, they will be more likely to follow the rules.

An effective way to demonstrate leadership is to identify a 'site safety champion' to challenge and coach colleagues. By empowering staff and rewarding their efforts, you are more likely to enthuse and engage, resulting in greater penetration of key health and safety messages.

Attention please When it comes to physically holding a health and safety presentation or workshop, it is critical to maintain the attention of the group. Some ways in which this can be achieved include: Use CD-Rom technology Make it visual. Put up eye-catching posters with punchy health and safety messages around the workplace. By doing this, staff will be constantly reminded of key H&S messages and potential dangers Engage people in discussions. Use the experience of your most knowledgeable people when you're training, but also gather information from everyone in the group.

Encourage an open debate to get staff to think about a particular topic or issue Content is not everything. The delivery of training programmes is crucial. Be positive, firm, confident and serious, but not too serious! Use stories and examples to bring the issues to life. A good beginning and end are critical in keeping staff engaged. A correctly communicated message can save lives To ensure that health and safety standards improve, it is essential to measure both your company's health and safety record and staff awareness. The results can be used to benchmark against future performances and identify areas for improvement While accidents will always happen, through effective training, we can minimise the risk and make construction a safer industry to work in.