What is Toolbox Training?
An introduction to Toolbox Talks at Greenfields.
What is a Toolbox Talk?
A Toolbox Talk is a short presentation delivered to the workforce on a single aspect of health and safety, or a refresher on an aspect of operational practice. The concept began in the construction industry but can be useful to any company that values the health and safety of their employees. At Greenfields they form part of our training and ongoing commitment to a strong health and safety culture.
Who gives your Toolbox Talks?
Usually our Health and Safety Manager Ross, curates and delivers a short presentation as part of our monthly health and safety meeting, however, senior managers may deliver an ad hoc toolbox talk to site operatives on specific work activities. Alternatively training may be given by external providers.
What do your Toolbox Talks Cover?
Topics for our talks are usually decided by what is currently going on in the business. For example, we recently updated our lone working procedures, so the monthly toolbox talk was the perfect way to communicate these changes to staff members. Other recent topics have included asbestos awareness, legionella awareness and manual handling techniques.
How often do you give Toolbox Talks?
Our talks are delivered as part of our monthly health and safety meetings. Company news and smaller health and safety topics can also be addressed in the meeting. We also offer a chance for staff to engage in an open forum to bring up and discuss any other health and safety issues that may need addressing. We feel this is a really important part of our health and safety culture as it allows all employees to feel engaged in the process.
But why do you need toolbox talks if your staff are already fully trained?
A rigorous schedule for staff training underpins our health and safety management system, but toolbox training talks allow us to take a pragmatic approach to keeping health and safety at the forefront of all staff members minds. It allows us to be reactive in our training, listening to site operatives concerns, offering specific examples related to current work and answering questions directly. We feel these talks improve workplace safety, boost team morale and strengthen our compliance to health and safety regulation in the work place.
Photos of a recent manual handling training session provided by external provider Jo Lees. After an initial introduction talk in our training room everyone headed outside for some practical training which begun with the importance of warming up before undertaking physical work!
