Hi All, hope you all had a good Christmas

I have been thinking about introducing a presentation for risk assessments for new employees, especially the younger generation who may not have come across a risk assessment before in the re lifes.

My idea i would be to introduce this as a concept of crossing the road , keeping in simple and one that we could all understand.

I would explain it as : it is nothing new and that they already do it, perhaps even subconciously! The best example is crossing the road - they will choose somewhere suitable to cross, they will look for oncoming traffic and judge its speed, they will take into consideration how wide the road is and whether to cross in one go or reach an half-way point, they will take into consideration anyone else who is with them i.e.children, elderly people etc. They will then calculate when it is safe to cross. All this in a matter of seconds/minutes?
...and what have they done? Assessed the risks, decided how to reduce them, taken into account others who may be affected, and finally - reached a decision to carry out the task safely! The only thing they haven't done is to record it!

We would be great to get others thoughts on this and bounce some ideas, or would any of you know of any presentations out there that i could use for this ?

Mike

Yes ,

I know what you mean we often get rig workers in for courses and the sit and stare as they are taken through yet another safety induction baring in mind that it is on there time off so never amused .

Another example i was thinking of was the risk assessment you yourself would have before driving your car but as you say there are some great examples to use

You have a great new year too

I totally agree with you about the understanding of 'Danger'. People do not generally see 'Risk' as something to worry about, but Danger is another matter.

I think the idea of 'risk' has come out of business jargon, it's purely safety speak. When we see something that looks a bit iffy, we say 'it's dangerous' not 'it's a risk'.

Road signs do not warn drivers of risks ahead, they say Danger ahead.

Happy New Year.

I think crossing the road is a really bad example to use, because everyone does it wrong and nearly everyone nearly always gets away with it.

I work in an office with a supermarket diagonally across the road. Most people get their lunchtime sandwich from the supermarket. About 100 yds down the road is a pelican crossing. At lunchtime, how many people do you think walk down to the pelican? Those that don't, how many do you think stop at the kerb, look right and left and right again and then walk straight across?

Everyone knows the green cross code, and practically no-one applies it. They nearly always get away with it. If you use this in almost any safety context, the thought process goes "yeah, I know the green cross code, but I don't actually do it like that. Yeah I know I should follow the method statement, but..."

I use green cross code to make exactly that point talking to designers about CDM - yes the contractor should use a harness to access this high place, and yes the operatives know they should clip on, but maybe they won't. We all take shortcuts, even when they save us only seconds and might cost us our life - just like the green cross code. So you should make it so that they don't need the harness, and don't need to clip on, and then even if they are as slapdash as you are when you cross the road, they won't be dead.

The changing a wheel is a much better example - they probably do that rarely enough that they aren't cavalier about it, but often enough that they can think of hazards.

I have used the following example as a thought experiment from a psychological point of view. I ask people to imagine they are at a train station and to consder the risks to themselves. Most people acknowledge that train stations are dangerous and have several areas where harm can be done. Then I ask them to imagine they are at the same train station and they have a 3 year old child with them. Even those who were quite laid back about their own safety usually admit they have a grip on the 3 year old's hand. Then I ask them to consider their risk assessments at work in the same way. It tightens things up a bit. They don't have to be too literal as that might stop some businesses functioning but it is always a good thought experiment that is based in everyone's experience and not a specific workplace.