At Southpac’s recent Safety Re-crafted workshop in Brisbane, a group of safety leaders tackled the challenge of transforming pre-start meetings in the construction industry.

Their goal: to shift from static, top-down sessions to dynamic, worker-led discussions that better connect safety protocols with on-the-ground tasks.

The Challenge

Pre-start meetings often lack engagement, with workers passively listening as safety messages are delivered. Many safety professionals have become frustrated that these sessions are seen by frontline workers as box-ticking exercises – where meaningful dialogue is rare, and participation feels forced.

Ben Kirkbride, the Head of Health, Safety and Quality at Gamuda, recognised the need to address this disconnect with a format that would encourage active involvement, practical application, and immediate feedback.

The Solution

During the Safety Re-crafted workshop, Ben, along with safety peers Chris Iken and Paulo Gomes, reimagined the concept of pre-start meetings. Together, they designed a micro-experiment based on the ‘walk-through talk-through’ approach: a small but tangible shift that would take pre-start discussions from the meeting room into an actual work environment.

The next day, Ben tested the idea on-site. After the standard pre-start meeting, he guided the crew and supervisors into the work area, turning their safety talk into an interactive session. Workers demonstrated their tasks, highlighted challenges, and collaboratively discussed solutions.

Ben noted that the method’s success was rooted in its simplicity and the authenticity of the environment. By seeing the tasks in context, workers could provide richer, more detailed insights. The method fostered a sense of ownership among the crew and encouraged natural collaboration.

The Results

The trial yielded significant outcomes:

• Engagement and Ownership: Workers, many of whom had little familiarity with Ben beforehand, quickly embraced the approach. They actively participated in discussions and contributed valuable insights.
• Practical Problem-Solving: The hands-on nature of the walk-through revealed real-time decision-making processes and enabled the team to address challenges collaboratively.
• Richer Dialogue: Unlike traditional meetings, the ‘walk-through talk-through’ method brought specificity to the conversation, with workers discussing detailed aspects of their tasks, safety measures, and operational hurdles.
• Strategic Usage: A debrief with the crew highlighted that the approach was most valuable when applied less frequently, such as weekly or during high-risk or complex operations.

Lessons Learned

Through this micro-experiment, Ben and his team uncovered several key lessons:

1. Start Small: Begin with manageable steps to avoid overcomplication or resistance.
2. Adaptability: The ‘walk-through talk-through’ complements, rather than replaces, traditional pre-start meetings. It enhances existing practices rather than disrupting them.
3. Keep It Concise: Keeping sessions to around 20 minutes maintains focus and prevents complacency.
4. Engage Strategically: The approach is particularly valuable in environments with overlapping contractors or during transitions between phases of work.

 Impact of the Safety Re-crafted Workshop

Ben credited the workshop with re-igniting his drive for innovation in safety practices. “It reminded me that we shouldn’t just keep doing the same things and expecting different results,” he explained. The workshop reinforced the idea that small, incremental changes can have a substantial impact and that safety professionals must lead the way in challenging the status quo.

Advice for Others

For those considering micro-experiments, Ben offered this advice:

• “Get out of your own way.” Don’t let overthinking or the pursuit of perfection stop you from starting.
• Focus on Incremental Adjustments: Minor changes to existing practices often yield significant results.
• Iterate and Learn: Treat each attempt as a learning opportunity, refining and improving the process over time.
• Build Trust: Engaging workers in the process fosters collaboration and strengthens long-term adoption.

Inspired to re-craft your own area of safety?

Whether its toolbox talks, audits, risk assessments or site inductions, there are countless areas of safety that, while well-intentioned, have become tick and flick exercises that do little to make work safer.

Southpac’s Safety Re-crafted workshops are designed to bring Health & Safety professionals together to create a vision for safety-as-possible, rather than safety-as-usual.

Over the course of a meaningful and practical 1-day workshop, you will make immediate progress on the challenges you are currently facing in your Health & Safety role while learning from the shared experiences of others in the room.

Working with a likeminded group, you’ll develop your own safe-to-fail micro-experiments around a chosen area of safety practice, allowing you to make incremental changes to nudge the system – as soon as the next day.

With regular dates in various locations around the country, see what’s coming up and register for a workshop here.

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