Posted By Jane Blunt When I started here I spent a considerable amount of time reading the past minutes of their committee, correspondence etc, to get a flavour of what worried them (which may or may not be the things that should worry them). I then visited every person who had been to the last safety committee (which had had a lapse of two years) and introduced myself, asked what their role was, what they felt was good, bad or indifferent about safety in the organisation and what they wanted to see changed. This had a very good effect, because it not only gave me an insight into what they were trying to do, and to what extent it matched my own perception of the organisation, but it also gave them an opportunity to meet me informally. I then did a quick audit of what was missing/wrong and decided what were the highest priorities. I did not start to change things immediately - for instance there was a large safety document produced by my part-time predecessor, which I have gradually changed (over a period of 5 years) - this had the effect of not alienating its author. However, I did organise a series of seminars to challenge some of their thinking and get them into the frame of mind that the emphasis was going to change. It has worked very well. Compliance has improved a lot, the safety committee is working well. I have concentrated more on giving them tools they can use than in telling them they are responsible for safety. Jane