Fun and interactive way to engage your safety team

By: Jean Ndana, ASP, CSP, PMP, ASQ-SSBB, ASQ-CQE

Regional EHS Manager at Michigan Seamless Tube(MST)

Fun and interactive way to engage your safety team

Weekly Safety Activity at Michigan Seamless Tube

As a safety practitioner, one of your biggest challenges is to figure out ways to get workers excited about workplace safety and getting them trained, educated and keeping them consistently involved and engaged.

What are fun, creative and effective ways that safety practitioners can use to educate employees and get them talking about safety during their own time i.e., during breaks, while waiting to clock out or in or, even when at home?

As a safety practitioner, how can you advance your organization’s workplace safety by leveraging the hobby of filling out newspapers crosswords puzzles of some your workers?

One way that was successful at my plant was the implementation of weekly thematic safety crosswords.

Compressed Gas Safety Crossword

Download Here

Below are some of the details:
1. Weekly Theme: Every week pick up a theme (crane safety, fork lift safety, machine guarding, confined space, lock out/tag out, fire safety, slip trip and fall, etc.) within your facility. Make sure to not choose a theme randomly, choose a theme that involves an area of concern or of emphasis;
2. Forms Availability: Leave a stack of forms with pencils in the lunch or break areas or where employees gather for breaks;
3. Give clear instructions:
a) form must be filled out only during worker’s own time (breaks or down times or at home) NOT while carrying out one’s work;
b) take a form, fill it out and turn it into the safety department or drop it in any of the raffle boxes by the deadline. Make it clear to workers that it is OK for workers discuss or share ideas about the topic; and
c) Also, set a minimum number of participants that are required for the raffle drawing to take place.
4. Deadline: On the deadline date, all the submitted forms will be collected and scored;
5. Assign numbers: Each participant who got everything right is assigned a random number ( 1, 2, 3, 30, 50, etc..) and entered to a raffle drawing. A one on one follow up will be done with each participant who did not correctly complete the puzzle;
6. Random numbers generator: An online random numbers generator will be used to raffle draw the winners for the prizes you may choose to give away (gift card, company swag, a restaurant gift card etc..);
7. Broadcast results and winners: Put the crossword answer key, the names of all participants and winners’ pictures showing their gift (those who want) on a board or monitor for all employees to see, along with a thank you message for their participation.