There is probably no such thing as a bad safety meeting. Any time people get together to talk about how to work safely, something good has to come out of it. But some safety meetings are certainly better than others. Last week, we covered the 12 rules of successful safety meetings. Today, here's a brief guide to help you avoid common safety meeting problems.

1. The Latecomers

Problem: Latecomers keep everyone waiting for the start of the meeting. Or they disrupt a meeting already underway.

Solution: Set a firm start time for your meeting. And enforce it. Start the meeting promptly at the designated time. Tell latecomers that you'll fill them in on what they missed after class.

2. The Department of Redundancy Department

Problem: Each meeting is exactly like the one before it, and the one before that one, and so on and so on.

Solution: Repeating the material may be necessary for learning. But there's a fine line between repetition and echoing. You can make the same points but present them in a variety of ways. Spice things up a bit. Change your approach, change your lesson plan, change your activity, change your tone of voice. Even change your speaker by inviting a guest speaker from time to time.

3. The Scene Stealing Gimmick

Problems: Trainers often use gimmicks such as skits, role-playing and other dramatic devices to spice up their presentation. This is something that should be encouraged. But don't let the gimmick steal the scene.

Solution: Make sure that whatever gimmicks you use supplement but don't become the message. Keep the focus on communicating the safety information. If a visual aid or prop is stealing the attention, say "this isn't working" and take back control of the meeting.

4. The Gripe Fest

Problem: The safety meeting turns into a complaint session in which participants air their grievances about everything from lack of parking spaces to holiday staffing arrangements.

Solution: Although safety sessions should be interactive, they should remain strictly about safety. Don't let irrelevant concerns elbow out the safety message. There's a time and place to discuss other matters. But it's not at your safety meeting. So if somebody raises a non-safety matter, cut off the conversation and bring the discussion back to safety, where it belongs.

5. The Hecklers

Problem: There may be people in the room who crack jokes or make harassing comments during your presentation.

Solution: Dealing with hecklers isn't easy. Don't get defensive; just smile and keep going. If possible, try to spin the heckler's comments to make them relevant to the point you're trying to make. If the heckling persists, you can turn the tables on the heckler by assigning him or her to conduct the next meeting.

6. The Chatters

Problem: It's not uncommon for individuals to conduct private conversations with each other during a safety presentation.

Solution: There are two ways to approach this problem. If you are moving about while giving your presentation, walk over to the chatters. Often, just by standing by them will be enough to quiet their conversation. Another technique is to draw the chatters in by asking them for their thoughts on the topic. You'll score more points if you can remain polite rather than snappish. But you do need to be firm and keep control over the meeting.

7. Inappropriate Remarks

Problem: Sad to say, the world is full of bigots. Sooner or later, one of them might attend one of your meetings and make an ethnic, sexist, religious, racial or otherwise inappropriate slur.

Solution: Put a stop to this kind of talk immediately. Don't do anything that even remotely suggests approval. For instance, don't smile at a sexist joke even if it draws a big laugh from the participants. There is absolutely no place for this behavior - in a safety meeting or anywhere else within your organization.

5 QUICK QUOTES

One monarch who appreciates the value of good training

For Safety Trainers

By Catherine Jones

1. To teach is to learn twice.
   Joseph Joubert, French Philosopher

2. Any training that does not include the emotions, mind and body is incomplete; knowledge fades without feeling.
   Anonymous

3. Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
   William Butler Yeats, Nobel Prize Winner, Poet

4. Teaching isn't one-tenth as effective as training.
   Horace Mann, Early American Education Reformer

5. It's all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you're properly trained.
   Queen Elizabeth II

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