W3: Behavioural Start-up Sessions for Projects

Right at the start of drilling your well, shooting your seismic or building your plant for example, you want people to know that safety is a top priority. Yes, you want efficiency and for people to work smart – but we want to get the message across clearly that it is not efficient if we have accidents.

BALANCE AND INTERACTION

That’s the secret to the success of these events. Here are some initial pointers we’ve learned from experience.
Have a very senior manager from the client and from the contractor there just to give a short (5 minutes max) motivational talk – from the “horses mouth”. There is no doubt that stopping a job for safety is right. There’s no need to lecture and say how important safety is – just give people tons of comfort – it’s okay to stop a job if in doubt.

Have some interactive behavioural safety sessions – some exercises people can do on tables or discuss in small groups. Avoid PowerPoint like the plague – it WILL switch people off! I do one 45-minute session on building awareness and a second on overcoming the fear of stopping the job.

Then by all means show a short DVD that reinforces some company policies or procedures – but make it short (15 – 20 minutes max and then have a facilitator lead a discussion. There must be discussion of the lessons won’t sink in.

Avoid shock tactics – it works only for a week or two and then people forget. And remember to keep it short – the human mind can only take in so much at one goes then overloads and people switch off. Use only a morning for the safety issues. Then use the afternoon for technical and production issues – which will of course involve safety as well

Here’s a sample timetable we have used successfully on many projects for the past six years
(This is only a sample – start and end times vary to meet goals of the session)

07.00

Welcome/Introduction/ HSE