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 Voting With Their Feet - Page 3
Please Note: The views expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect the views of this occupational health safety and welfare
forum. Readers acting on advice in articles should consider the applicability to their particular needs and circumstances and implement advice at their own risk.
Author: Far Horizons
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Workshop the issue
- "Brainstorming" is a widely known and used technique. There is a reason for this. It is very effective in producing ceativity and ideas in a non threatening context. Divide
the participants into groups of 4 - 6 people, where practical, and ask them to generate as many potential hazards in the environment as they can. You may limit this to a specific type
of risk, if that is the purpose.
- The usual "rules" for brainstorming apply. No analysis of the ideas; simply generate and record them. It is useful to do this on "post-it" notes, 1 idea per note, for
grouping together similar ideas later. Encourage as much output as possible.
- 15 - 20 minutes is usually more than enough time to generate a good list of potential hazards. Left too long, participants disengage from the process. Too short, and they become
frustrated.
Review and group your data
- The facilitator starts and oversees this process. Have a quick (2 minute) feedback session to get an idea of the range of hazards identified. Try to identify major groups of ideas
and put the relevant post-its together. For example there may be 2 suggestions such as;
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- These employer provided boots hurt my back by the end of each day, and
- Overalls are too dark and vehicles travelling through the work site sometimes don't see pedestrians quickly enough
This kind of feedback might suggest a "Personal Protective Equipment" risk category.
- Write the categories on large sheets of paper and attach the relevant "post-its".
- Don't be too prescriptive about categories. If participants feel strongly about grouping or separating items, go with their judgement. They really are the experts about their
workplace and what safety means to them.
Prioritise the identified hazards
- Place the categories around the area, visible to all.
- Give participants 3 - 5 sticky dots (round adhesive labels) or something similar. These dots represent their vote on what hazards should be a priority. Allow 10 minutes or so for
participants to re-read the post-its in each category and determine where they place their votes.
- Each participant can place as many dots against a single item they want, but are limited to the number of dots provided.
- When you collectively stand back, it is highly likely that a small range of hazards will stand out as a shared priorities. This is where energy is then focussed. Ignore this
feedback at your peril!
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