Hands and tools
- Where are your hands?
- Guards on, hands on.
- Lock it, tag it, test it, then touch it.
- Right tool, right job, right hands.
- Ten fingers in, ten fingers out.
- Gloves for the task, not from the pocket.
- Pinch points don't pinch twice.
- A jam is not an emergency; reaching in is.
- Sharp tools, sharp minds.
- Isolate before you investigate.
Plant and vehicles
- Eye contact before you step out.
- Walkways are for walking.
- Behind a reversing machine is nowhere to be.
- Pre-start it like your life depends on it.
- Seatbelt on, every time, every machine.
- Three metres is not a safe distance.
- Spotter in sight or stop.
- Slow is safe, safe is fast.
- Loads secured, roads clear.
- Look up: power lines don't look down.
Height and access
- Three points, every time.
- Clip on before you climb on.
- Edges don't warn you.
- Two metres is high enough.
- What's below you if you drop it?
- A fragile roof looks like a roof.
- Tag the scaffold or stay off it.
- Clear stairs, safe stairs.
- Ladders lean; people fall.
- Plan the rescue before the climb.
Reporting and speaking up
- See it, say it, sort it.
- A near miss is a free lesson.
- Report it today, prevent it tomorrow.
- Stop work is everyone's job.
- Silence hides hazards.
- If it feels wrong, it is wrong enough to stop.
- Speak up for the new starter.
- The hazard you walk past is yours.
- Nobody gets in trouble for honesty.
- Raise it at the board, not at the funeral.
Housekeeping and order
- A place for everything, everything in its place.
- Clear floor, clear mind.
- Put the hose away; the next trip is yours.
- Leaks show on a clean floor.
- Five minutes of 5S, every shift.
- Tidy is a control, not a chore.
- Label it or lose it.
- Trip hazards don't fix themselves.
- The walkway is a safety device.
- Finish clean, start safe.
People and care
- Home safe, every shift.
- Look out for each other.
- Tired is impaired.
- Drink before you're thirsty.
- Hearing protection works when it's worn.
- Ask how someone is, and mean it.
- The drive home is part of the shift.
- New here? Ask. Been here years? Ask anyway.
- Safety is what we do when no one is watching.
- One team, one standard.
What makes a slogan work?
A slogan works when it names a specific behaviour the crew can do in the next hour, when it is short enough to say in one breath, and when the crew chose or wrote it. It fails when it is generic ("Safety first"), when it blames ("Carelessness kills") or when it stays on a banner for a year. The strongest slogans on most sites are the ones written after a near miss, in the words of the person who had it.
How do you run a slogan campaign?
- Pick the theme from the month's near misses and observations at the Tier 2 meeting.
- Ask each crew to choose or write a slogan for it at the huddle.
- Put the winning slogan on the tier board and a banner at the area entrance for the month.
- Pair it with the week's safety messages and one toolbox talk on the theme.
- At month end, count the hazards raised and actions closed on the theme, and move on.
Safety slogans inside daily management
The slogan is the month's banner; the tier board is where it becomes work. Hazards raised on the theme are actions with owners; the Tier 2 meeting reviews the month and picks the next theme from the evidence. A slogan that produced no actions was decoration, and the next one should be written by the crew.
A worked example
A warehouse ran 'Safety first' on a faded banner for three years. When the Tier 2 meeting started choosing a monthly theme from the near-miss log, the picking crew wrote 'Behind a reversing machine is nowhere to be' after a close call at the dock. It went on the board and a banner at the dock door; that month produced six hazard reports about blind spots, two mirror installations and a change to the dock traffic plan. The crew now writes the slogan every month.