The card
Area / task observed: · Date and shift: · Observer: · Duration:
| Category | Safe behaviours seen | At-risk behaviours or conditions seen | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body position and line of fire | ☐ Clear of moving parts ☐ Not under load ☐ Stable footing | ☐ In line of fire ☐ Awkward posture ☐ Rushing | |
| PPE | ☐ Correct for the task ☐ Worn properly | ☐ Missing ☐ Wrong type ☐ Damaged | |
| Tools and equipment | ☐ Right tool ☐ Good condition ☐ Guards in place | ☐ Improvised ☐ Damaged ☐ Guard removed | |
| Procedures and permits | ☐ Standard followed ☐ Isolation done ☐ Permit in place | ☐ Step skipped ☐ No isolation ☐ Workaround | |
| Housekeeping and environment | ☐ Walkways clear ☐ Spills managed ☐ Lighting adequate | ☐ Trip hazards ☐ Leaks ☐ Poor access | |
| Communication | ☐ Pre-task talk done ☐ Signals clear | ☐ Working alone unplanned ☐ Unclear handover |
Conversation: What was done well · What was at risk and why · What the person suggested Hazard or condition to fix: · Action / owner / due: · Recognition given: ☐
How do you run a safety observation?
- Tell the person you are observing and why; it is not covert.
- Watch the whole task cycle, or five to fifteen minutes, without interrupting unless there is immediate danger.
- Tick what you see, safe and at risk, in each category.
- Talk: start with what was done well, ask about the at-risk items ("what makes that the easier way?"), listen for the condition behind the behaviour.
- Record the hazard or condition and agree the action with an owner.
- Thank the person. Hand the card in the same day.
What makes observation programs fail
- Quotas: ten cards a month produces ten cards, not ten conversations.
- Cards used for discipline, after which nobody is observed doing anything at risk.
- Only behaviours recorded, never the conditions that drive them.
- Cards counted and never read, so the same at-risk pattern persists for years.
Safety observations inside daily management
Observations are scheduled in leader standard work like gemba walks. The at-risk conditions raised become actions on the team's tier board that week; the trend by category (for example, line of fire rising on one line) is reviewed at the Tier 2 meeting monthly and drives the toolbox talk topics. Recognition recorded on the cards is read out at the huddle.
Step by step
- Schedule. Observations in leader standard work: team leaders weekly, managers monthly.
- Observe openly. Tell the person; watch a full cycle; tick safe and at-risk items.
- Talk. What went well, what was at risk and why, what they would change.
- Record and act. Hazard or condition with an owner and date on the tier board.
- Review the trend. Categories by area at Tier 2; set toolbox topics from it.
A worked example
A beverage site's observation program produced 400 cards a year and no change in its hand injury rate. Reading a month of cards at the Tier 2 meeting showed the same at-risk item on one filler, operators reaching past a guard to clear bottle jams, recorded 31 times with 'retrain' as the action each time. The fix was a jam-clearing tool and a guard modification, raised as an A3; hand injuries on that line stopped, and the program changed from counting cards to reading them.