Although many general industry operations do not change dramatically daily; many hazards can cause injury. Injury statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics each year reveal that workers are injured on the job in the hundreds of thousands.
While the construction industry is the one that has the largest number of workplace fatalities, these tragedies also happen in other industries far too often as well. Many of these accidents are caused by the same hazards that can cause fatalities. It is necessary to follow safe working practices and educate employees about safety topics to prevent workplace injuries.
The Importance of Safety Toolbox Talks
Besides the hazards mentioned above, the workplace contains several potential hazards that may endanger workers. There are many unique hazards that workers can encounter on general industry job sites, even though these sites are not as dynamic and constantly changing as construction sites are.
A safety meeting about safety topics held before work or at the beginning of work is recommended to prevent workplace injuries. If employees spend just five minutes discussing safety topics before starting work each day, this translates into more than 1,250 minutes of safety education per employee every year! Those are more than 20 hours of safety education!
During this time, you should choose topics relevant to your employees and the issues they may encounter in their work. There is no reason why you should not stray from the routine safety topics to provide a fresh perspective on safety for those workers, particularly those in the general industry who have been around for a long time and might think they have heard it all.
Managing Complacency Towards Safety
After providing most of the more basic safety talks, you should consider adding a behavioral-based safety talk to your repertoire. These talks focus more on the ” WHY ” behind safety topics than only discussing the physical hazards you may have repeatedly encountered with your employees.
The fear of becoming complacent will result if you do not develop unique ways to play with safety or give a fresh perspective on an old topic. If your workers have been doing the same task repeatedly for many weeks or months, if you do not switch it up every once in a while, they will become bored during another slip, trip, and fall toolbox talk.
The safety topics provided below may be used at the next safety meeting and for your next safety moment.
- Alcohol Use
- Allergies
- Amputations
- Annual Checkup
- Asbestos Dangers
- Automated External Defibrillators
- Back Injuries and Prevention
- Battery Handling
- Battling Complacency
- Benzene Dangers in the Workplace
- Bloodborne Pathogens
- Burn Hazards and Injury Prevention
- Burn Severity
- Carbon Monoxide Safety
- Carcinogens in the Workplace
- Clothing and Safety
- Cold Stress Hazards
- Common Cold
- Common Issues with Fire Extinguishers
- Communicating Issues
- Communication and Safety
- Communication Tools and Safety
- Concrete Work
- Conveyor Belt General Safety
- Costs of Drugs on the Job
- Dangers of Excessive Sitting
- Dealing with Stress from Home
- Diesel Exhaust Dangers and Safeguards
- Distracted Driving (Cellphone Use)
- Distracted While Walking
- Distractions Created by Smartphones When Not in Use
- Doing Work Tasks Wrong the First Time
- Dropped Objects on the Job
- Drowsy Driving
- Drug Abuse
- Easy Way Instead of the Right Way
- Electrical Injuries
- Electrical Safety
- Elimination of Hazards
- Emergency Exits
- Eye Injuries and Prevention
- Fall Protection
- Falls on the Same Level
- Fatigue on the Job
- Fire Extinguishers Use and Inspection
- Fire Watch General Safety
- First Aid Preparedness
- First Day Back to Work
- Five Common Contributing Factors
- Five Reasons to Work Safe Today
- Fixed Objects (Motor Vehicle Safety)
- Fixed Open Blade Knives
- Flu
- Forklift Fatalities and Injuries
- Four Focus Items for Work Area Inspections
- Habits and Safety
- Hand Safety and Injury Prevention
- Hand Tool Inspections
- Hazardous Chemicals- Four Routes of Entry
- Health is Everything
- Heart Attacks
- Heat Stress
- Heat Stroke
- Helping Out
- Hierarchy of Controls
- Horseplay on the Job
- How Observant Are You?
- Hydration: The Importance of Water
- Hydrogen Sulfide
- Insect Sting Allergies
- Knowing What to do in an Emergency
- Lack of Time
- Ladder Safety
- Lawn Mower Safety
- Lead Paint Dangers and Safety
- Leave Yourself an Out
- Lifting and Rigging
- Line of Fire Hazards
- Machine Guarding
- Manual Handling Injury Prevention
- Material Recovery Facilities General Safety
- Mechanical Issue-Related Crashes
- New Employees on the Job
- New Equipment
- Noise at Work and Home
- Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
- Occupational-related Cancer
- Office Safety
- One Billion Dollars Spent on Injuries a Week
- Opioid Abuse
- Organization of Work Areas
- Orthostatic Intolerance
- Pinch Points and Hand Injuries
- Poison Ivy
- Pressure Washing
- Ready For Work
- Recordable Injuries – Why Employees Should Care
- Report All Injuries
- Respirator Donning, Doffing, and Seal Checks
- S.O.R.T Tool
- Safety Glasses
- Safety Related Paperwork
- Selective Attention at Work
- Seven Basic General Industry Safety Rules
- Severity and Frequency
- Shift Work Dangers
- Shoveling Snow
- Silica Dust Dangers and Safety Measures
- Silicosis
- Skid Steer Safety
- Sleep
- Sling Inspections
- Slip Hazards and Safety
- Slips, Trips, and Falls
- Snakes in the Workplace
- Spiders
- Spotter Safety at Work
- Stretching Pros and Cons
- Strokes- Signs and Emergency Response
- Table Saw General Safety
- Task Planning
- The Negative Side of Quick Reactions
- Three Types of Poor Housekeeping Hazards
- Three-Way Communication
- Tornado Safety
- Train Safety
- Trip Injuries and Prevention
- Truck Driving – Hazards On and Off the Road
- Two Types of Workplace Stress
- Types of Fire Extinguishers
- Underground Utility Strikes
- Unsafe Conditions in the Workplace
- Weed Wacker Safety
- Which Safeguard Makes the Difference?
- Wildlife in the Workplace
- Winter Weather
- Wood Dust
- Work Area Best Practices
- Working Alongside Subcontractors
- Workplace Inspections
- Workplace Shootings
- Workplace Suicides
- Workplace Violence
Are you interested in learning about different security solutions you can employ for your safety? Check out the rest of Be-Safe’s resources today!
Daisy is the engine behind Be-Safe.org — from content production to product reviews and more. What drives her is the passion to make home security information easily available.
