TRAINING - 17.09.2020

Allow staff to think for themselves?

One of your employees is full of “how they did things at my last place” and is throwing around the terms STOP and SLAM which he says mean that staff get the last say on whether a job is safe. Is he correct?

Take more care

The majority of workplace injuries occur as a result of unsafe actions, i.e. mistakes, violations, errors in judgement. Even accidents which seem to be due to an unsafe condition, e.g. a defective machine, are rooted in human failure. If you ask staff about their workplace they generally know where the weaknesses are, the common shortcuts, the protective equipment that isn’t worn, the guard which is removed because it’s in the way, etc.

“Behavioural safety” aims to change workplace culture so that these root problems are addressed. The idea is to get staff fully involved in decisions which affect their safety, encouraging them to think about safety throughout the working day, and make suggestions to management on how work can be done better. 20 years ago it was the new innovation in health and safety, but now it’s fairly well established in large industries. It’s within behavioural safety that you’ll come across acronyms such as STOP and SLAM.

STOP

“STOP” stands for Safety Training Observation Programme. This works by one (trained) employee observing one or more other staff and noting their observations on a STOP card. The data is used to improve safe systems of work, training, etc. If there’s an immediate risk, the observer has the authority to stop the work, and discuss with the team why it is unsafe and what measures could be implemented to reverse the situation. Within the STOP framework all employees are also given a personal responsibility to stop work any time they feel work is dangerous.

What about SLAM?

STOP is about external observation whereas SLAM aims to empower the individual employee, asking them to use a decision framework when working.

SLAM stands for Stop, Look, Assess, Manage. The first stage, “Stop”, is a reminder to pause and consider the job at hand before starting. If staff have concerns, they should not begin until they’re resolved. “Look” indicates that they should inspect the work area for hazards before, during and after work activities. “Assess” is a prompt to evaluate whether staff and teammates are equipped to do a job safely. Finally, “Manage”, directs staff to implement the correct control measures, use safety equipment and, most importantly, stop work and discuss with their supervisor if they feel unsafe.

Do you need these in your life?

The principles are good, but you may not want to go to the trouble of introducing a full culture change programme involving staff training at all levels and scheduled workplace observations.

Tip. However, if you’re having problems with staff not following safety rules, cutting corners, causing damage and multiple accidents, you’ll gain some good ideas from looking into behavioural safety in more detail. The HSE has put together some simplified guidance on the subject (see The next step ).

For a link to the HSE’s Leadership and worker involvement toolkit, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk, Download Zone, year 19, issue 1.

Both of these ideas are part of behavioural safety. Going to this depth is more for large corporations, but some of the principles are worth adopting, particularly if staff are not complying with your rules and causing frequent damage and accidents. For a taster, the HSE has a useful toolkit.

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