Maybe its more a reflection on the organisation, rather than you.

Are the participants being pressured by their bosses not to attend?
If they are overloaded with their "normal work" something has to give somewhere.

Hi buddy, there are many answers to this and probably multiple anlges to tackle this from. I will mention just 1 that has worked for me recently.

You need to identify why the attendance is so low. Is this because they can't be bother? Is it because their workload is too great and they deprioritised attending the meeting? Have they been told by their line manager they can't "waste" time attending? etc. etc.

You need to develop skills akin to a project manager operating in a matrix management structure (i.e. one where the project team comprises persons that are not line managed by the project manager - they are part of the project as an "add on" to their day job. Google "project managing in a matrix management structure" or a similar phrase and lots of hints and tips will be thrown up.

What can you do? The key here is to Network and develop Personal Authority. Your delegates are much more likely to attend if their line manager buys into what you are doing and either convinces them it is a good idea or just tells them to attend (and adds their attendance to your meets as part of their performance metrics).

So network with relevant line managers, gain buy-in from them, get them to understand where you are going and the help you need by a strong attendance and ask them to promote / facilitate individual attendance.

Just 1 angle, and it may be something you are already doing, but has worked wonders when I reassessed the issues I was facing recently.

I don't believe networking (urgh) and personal authority (double urgh) are relevant. They won't account for more than 2% of the decision to attend the meeting or not. In my view, no-one attends a health and safety meeting because the bloke at the front is a great guy who really knows where his towel is.

While I try and make meeting engaging and interesting and so on, I am under no illusion that people come to the meeting because they want to see me - and actually, that's rightly so. If they are going to meetings just because the meeting is entertaining, that's not actually in the interests of the company.

It is correct to say that people attend when their superior thinks it is important. If the line-manager's first question when walking and talking was 'did you go to the last safety meeting?' followed by 'what did you take from it and put into practice' there'd be an instantaneous leap in attendance, I'm sure. The line managers would say that if their boss was asking them 'how many of your people attend the safety meetings regularly?'. And so on up the chain.

Saying Ryan should buck up and develop some personal authority is unhelpful, and unlikely to be the cause or solution to the problem.

Get board-level directors into the meeting. Get the MD to the meeting, preferably early (ie, not dashing in at the last moment) and being attentive. Of course, depending on your MD that may be a forlorn aspiration, but if you can achieve it, I think it will have more impact on attendance than any amount of refining or tinkering with what actually happens in the meeting.

Good luck.

Rmlewis
From your original posting it seems that you, the H&S professional is running the H&S meeting. Why?
The H&S meeting should be an opportunity for the management and workers to get together to discuss H&S issues. The H&S person’s job is to facilitate and provide advice not run the meeting. If neither the management nor the workers are interested then why have a meeting?
I do not think that senior managers should just be invited to the meeting; they should be running the meeting. As far as I am concerned H&S is just another management responsibility (finance and HR issues)
Remember the legal requirement to have H&S committee is based on a request from the workforce (see Section 2(7) Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to confirm this).

Ryan

A range of comments have been made so I'll make the following points:

1 The health and safety committee could be chaired by the most senior executive. Many moons ago a moribund H&S Forum in a very large utility company asked - and got - the Operations Director to chair the meetings. The impact on operational Regional managers and local managers was illuminating. Over the years I have heard several CEOs claim they were the organisation's Chief Safety Officer and used their role as H&S Committee chair as part of the evidence.

2 What do people want? Many H&S committees 'spin in their own orbit': where does the Committee sit in the business? What annual plan does it have - does this sit as part of the organisation's business plan? What budget does it have?

Many years ago Safety Reps used to be given an exercise. It was to decide what was most important in an organisation and identify how decisions around this key issue were made; finance allocated, lead executive etc. Then they were asked to compare this issue with how health and safety decisions were made. Often H&S was more of a 'seat of the pants' process. Others, of course, had so many H&S priorities progressing them all become nigh on impossible. This kind of contrast can reveal organisational and accountability weaknesses that may be addressed.

3 If issues are taken as projects, how are the general principles of prevention applied to priorities? Giving people a challenge to solve problems - teams - may get some interested, especially if senior executives act directly as 'champions' to individual issues/projects. There are many examples where this has led to success, which has then inspired others to follow the same approach. If the senior executive becomes accountable for delivery, this can assist, depending on the individual executive, of course. In one organisation board directors took the lead for specific health and safety topics and had to report back progress directly to the CEO. This can help define a clearer role for a H&S committee.

Of course if it was easy all H&S committees would be functioning well. People support what they help create. A starting point might be to ask the committee members why the attendance is down and what do they think could be done to improve the situation. This might give some leads as to how to approach the situation with senior colleagues.

Cheers.

Nigel

I'd listen to Kieran. For my money, a wise man

I may be picking you up wrong, but my reading of your post does tend to resonate with A Kurdziel. Too much is revolving around you?
Are there issues with ownership here? Was there appropriate involvement and stakeholder engagement with all these document updates - was that staff handbook what the 'customer' wanted, was there appropriate authority behind those requests to 'complete' risk assessments ("Complete"?: did you start them, or do you consider what others have done to be incomplete?).
What are others getting out of these meetings? What are there expectations? What is their role at the meeting?
"Working on scenario pictures" may well be 'fun' but is this really best use of valuable time? The meetings may well be 'interesting and informative' but what is the purpose of the meeting? Are there appropriate Terms of reference? Are there short, medium and long term objectives?

I've found the provision of bacon butty's to be a great help ;-)

Samosas and cake. And if they are tasty enough, I am happy to do a guest speaker spot!

you [& H&S] are more than likely suffering because of the area u are operating in e.g; -

Hundreds of millions going out of the budgets year on year, people overworked and in many many many cases being TUPE to private businesses or none traditional areas of LA's etc. who know nothing of their work where the staff do not want nor need it, unions being toothless and pensions being frozen

The list goes on and on people think that H&S has let them down especially with regards stress and people are afraid of their jobs & future whilst at the same time the politicians are gaining all the time especially with their wage rises and their pet areas e.g. safeguarding, wellbeing, NHS joined up working etc. getting all the dosh and CEO's being well rewarded because of their cost cutting and TUPE work --- this situation, especially hundreds of millions going out of the budgets year on year is completely alien to those in private business

How do U make things better; well there is no easy answer especially where the EHO's that work for your organization are also toothless to an extent and are also suffering so they cannot help and the HSE, well enough said. ---- Try to weather the storm and once the corner is turned re the current rounds of cost cutting then things may get better but only if the CEO see's that there is some kudos to be gained for themselves personally - or move into the private sector

I think that you can tell that I have been there - best of luck

I have found the press comments on reducing the H&S burden the most negative. So try to excite interest by quoting stats from FFI and corporate manslaughter to focus Heads of service in my quarterly reports to Management.

Perhaps your insurers can supply Managing Safely or Directing safely to help the cause, I know Zurich do offer these.

I occasionally re- issue INDG417 (leading health
and safety at work - LEADERSHIP ACTIONS FOR DIRECTORS AND BOARD MEMBERS

Or at a swanky hotel with a posh lunch provided? Sent out the invites - then at the last minute change the venue - at least you know people will have the time in their diary??

The tread that came back from the dead; two years is that a record?
Anyway, I will add my bit. One problem is that the original poster is trying to use the H&S meeting as a universal forum, where all H&S matters are dealt with, including a bit of training, plus agitation and propaganda as well as the business stuff. Such a meeting can become disorganised and lacking in focus. So how abound this:
1.A H&S management meeting to focus on the clear deliverables; stuff which you apply the SMART process to, looking at leading and lagging indicators, reviewing policies etc. It should be short (1 hour-long) and to the point. Task should be assigned to participants who are expected to deliver outcomes by the next meeting
2.Opportunities to discuss H&S ideas; micro-teaches about an issue such as COSHH, WAH or manual handling. Focus on the training and learning aspects.
3.Feedback sessions. Informal get others with teams, perhaps as part of routine team meetings or comms cells. An opportunity for the H&S bods to listen to staff, rather than spend time talking at them.

My advice would be to look or go back to basics - try and establish the roots of the problem and the culture drivers in H&S, then get them on board and work through the issues of low attendance