Safety is a huge issue if you perform outdoor advertising install and maintenance work in-house.  At a recent OAAA safety meeting the President of an independent outdoor advertising company talked about seeing insurance premiums increase by $250,000 over the three years after his company had a large workers compensation claim from an injured employee.  One element of safety is to have a monthly meeting to reinforce its importance.  Here are six keys to conducting an effective safety meeting.

• Have employees run the meeting. They’ll cover what’s important to them.  The more experienced employees can share best practices.

• Don’t read.   Demonstrate.  Make meetings memorable with props, e.g. a safety harness, ladders, chainsaws.  Go onsite to demonstrate proper technique.

• Use outside sources. Show a safety video you found on youtube.  Have your insurance company provide a speaker.

• Hold the meeting in the morning so people are fresh. When you hold the meeting at the end of the day everyone wants to get it over as soon as possible to go home.

• Share info on recent accidents and near misses within the company. What went wrong and why.  How could the accident have been avoided?

• Schedule the meeting at the same time each month so it gets on calendars. You should plan to hold the meeting regardless of rotation schedule or workload.  When you push the meeting around due to work load you are sending a message to your employees that safety isn’t important.

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