Hi all, 

I've found it useful to use comedy in some of my safety briefings / toolbox talks etc. to help make it more engaging and memorable to people who don't have much investment into safety beyond basic compliance to toe-the-line. 

I appreciate comedy is subjective but I've found a comic twist or joke on a dry subject can help enliven the engagement and gets a much better understanding/buy-in. 

As an example sent by email to stop people propping open doors with extinguishers:

"Hi all,

Just a quick friendly reminder on site safety.

This... 📸 [picture of doorstop] ...is a doorstop. It’s used to hold doors open.

Whereas this... 📸 [picture of fire extinguisher] ...is a fire extinguisher. It’s used to put out fires and save lives.

The two are not interchangeable. Do not attempt to fight fires with doorstops. You will die (or at least get burned).

Likewise, do not wedge doors open with fire extinguishers. You may damage the extinguisher and put people’s lives at risk.

If you see someone putting out fires with doorstops, or holding doors open with extinguishers, tell them they’re a fool, and tell them to stop.

Thanks. Have a great weekend."

I'm wondering if anyone had any good funny twists, comments, comparisons, jokes to include in informal delivery of safety messages they'd like to share?

Originally Posted by: Self and Hasty

Whereas this...[picture of fire extinguisher]...is a fire extinguisher. It’s used to put out fires and save lives.

One of the great things in H&S is the inevitable variation in opinions.

I am firmly a "fire extinguisher's are there to aid escape and the Fire Brigade put out fires" believer.

In an ADR vehicle loaded with flammables that are burning those mandatory fire extinguishers are not going to put out the fire.

If you are trying to engage with people on the exciting topic of  H&S,  you need to establish a rapport with them. Being funny is one way to do this BUT this must flow  naturally during the course of the lesson not be crowbarred in because that is what the train the trainer said.  It can be toe curlingly bad especially, “icebreakers”… where people end up looking for rocks to  hide under. Any stories should be based on real experience (not necessarily yours ) but they should be both amusing and make the point. For example this morning I gave a short toolbox talk on the use fire blankets in laboratories. I explained that one of the reasons  that fire blankets are better is that they are reasonably foolproof unlike fire extinguishers where to have to consider which sort of extinguisher to. So anyway someone working in a lab spills some flammable liquid in a fume cupboard. They start mopping the spill up using the blue paper towel but  manage to set fire to the soaking ball of paper towels. They grab the first extinguisher that is to hand-a CO2 one. They discharge it. This  does not put the burning ball out. Instead the fireball is blown out of the   fume cupboard and lands on a lab bench. The guy with extinguisher gives the fire another blast and it flies across the lab,  and he is chasing trying to put it. The tissues  stop burning after the entire extinguisher has discharged. No real damage but it’s obvious that a fire blanket would have been a better bet. This is a true story. Honest.  

Whatever you do, don't show any episodes of "The Wright Way" by Ben Elton.