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Tailgate meetings

Grader4me

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
1,792
Location
New Brunswick, Canada
Any of you guys have "tailgate meetings" before starting new jobs or while doing existing jobs?
What I mean by this, do you as a rule gather around the table, tailgate or where ever, and discuss with your employees safety concerns, hazzards, communication, proper work procedures etc.? Or as employees does your Supervisor/Employer have these meetings with you?

I'm just curious as to what is happening in the rest of the country. Here in my little corner of the world employers are required by law to exercise "due dilligence" at the worksite. They have to do everything "reasonable" to provide safe working conditions/practices etc.

Part of this work site safety is the "tailgate meeting" that is also documented(ater the meeting is finished) by the Supervisor/Employer so proof can be shown in event that a safety officer comes on site and asks. Also if an accident was to happen on the job it could reduce the chance of heavy fines etc. as it would be proof that the employer was practicing due dilligence. Of course it would depend on the accident cirumstances etc...

The main focus of these meetings in my opinion shouldn't be concern for stop work orders or fines...it should be concerns for employee safety...
 

Squizzy246B

Administrator
Joined
Sep 9, 2005
Messages
3,388
Location
Perth, Western Australia
Occupation
Digger Driver
We have work site meetings at the commencement of every job. Because our work varies so much our procedures are very generic so, according to my company procedure, they must be tailored to every job. The tailgate is where I explain the intracies of each job. An good example of our meeting would be the last last job I did. We discussed asbestos removal, demolition (small), overhead power lines and machinery hazards due to restricted acces, manual lifting, dust control, and then I had a few gripes about workers leaving the tailgate unlocked on the truck!...

I do not believe that I need to document this as I have the generic procedure that states the meeting will take place and the particular site requirements will be addressed by the supervisor.
 

DigDug

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2005
Messages
577
Location
Maine
Yes some jobs we have to have the meetings. We call them toolbox talk.:rolleyes: I have to document what safety stuff we talked about and turn it in monthly or i dont get paid.
 

surfer-joe

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
1,403
Location
Arizona
Tailgate meetings are an exceptionally important part of establishing a safety culture within a company. Safety is of course, the primary concern for these brief meetings, but other pertinent subjects should be brought out and discussed as needed if they pertain to the project and the workers. Communication from the top all the way to the bottom is exceptionally important on most construction and mining projects.

My own personal experiences indicate that these meetings must be documented on paper and everyone present needs to sign off. Why? Lets say you have a meeting on Monday where everyone is instructed not to go under a gravel screening plant while it is in operation, a common practice up to that point. Everyone that works at that operation is present and signs off. On Wednesday, the plant maintenance mechanic violates this instruction, and is found at noon shut-down by the plant operator, lying on top of the plant generator fuel tank, dead. The tank is directly under the main feed hopper conveyor belt and just behind the screen deck feed conveyor. All indications and an autopsy show that the mechanic was somehow caught in the single feed hopper conveyor return roller and pulled through. Every bone in his body was broken.

Because this was a DOE (Department of Energy) project, they pulled jurisdiction and performed the investigation themselves excluding OSHA. The state deferred to DOE. DOE performed a very complete and lengthy investigation. They shut down the entire project for the rest of the week. The screening operation was shut down indefinitely. They measured and took pictures of everything, and they interviewed and tape-recorded everybody from the project and area managers on down to the laborers that worked around the plant. They reviewed all documentation and visited the screen plant manufacturers facility in the northwest. The contractor offered legal representation to the supervisors and plant workers before, during, and after the interviews with DOE.

In retrospect, I should have accepted the offer of a legal expert, not because I had anything to hide, for I was one of the supervisors interviewed and was, moreover, the plant mechanics direct supervisor. But at the time, most of us being investigated simply had no idea of the seriousness of the situation we were in. As it was, we faced being charged with negligence individually, and DOE cited several MSHA regulations that we were in violation of, something the company could have been cited for and which would have been very costly. The company could have lost the contract as well. Introspection of this event over time has shown me just how truly ignorant we were at the legal ramifications at the time.

The saving grace in this tragedy, at least for the company and we supervisors, was that I always made a copy of the original weekly toolbox meeting sheet after everyone including myself signed off. I turned in the original to the project safety director, and the copy then went into my own files in my office desk. A day or two after the incedent, the safety director came back to my office and wanted to let me know that he could not find the original copy of the toolbox meeting sheet. I said, "no problem," and pulled out my copy. We immediately made a dozen copies of this, and my original copy then went into the office safe. The original was never found that I know of.

The point is though, that the deceased worker had been at the meeting, and he had signed off. That simple fact alone largely got us off the hook. It also shot down a potential civil law suit that was being considered by the widow and her lawyer.

We remained shut down entirely for an additional week, during which we retrained our entire workforce in the OSHA 40 hour safety requirements. We remained shut down at the screening plant for another month while we awaited various rulings concerning jurisdiction and how to meet DOE safety concerns. Some of us received additional safety and compliance training, particularly those that were involved directly with the screen plant operation.

Because of the fact that we were performing a DOE project, it was determined that we did not fall under the auspices of MSHA or OSHA. But as a sop to DOE, we volunteered to comply with and exceed MSHA regulations and guidelines. Doing this satisfied their concerns and we were allowed to re-start the plant, which then had to work double-shift/6 days a week to make up for the lost production. It was also more difficult to operate and work around the plant because of all the guards we installed and other procedures that we instigated, which slowed production somewhat. As anyone might assume, we were under intense scrutiny for quite a while from both DOE and the prime contractor, particularly at the screen plant.

One big issue that had to be resolved was fabrication and installation of a guard over and around the killer return roller. DOE would not allow us to restart untill this was taken care of. Just fencing off that portion of the plant and posting signs was not enough for them. The plant manufacturer was not any help nor were senior company equipment managers, all of whom came in for a look. The solution was eventually suggested by the plant operator, whom was extremely upset over his friends death, who simply asked if the roller could be taken off! We posed this question to DOE and they approved the procedure. I had the roller cut into small pieces and threw it in our scrap bin.

That little sheet of paper and the information it contained did not stop a good man and personal friend from being killed despite his being aware of the dangers. He chose, on a personal level, to disregard the warnings he had been given. The paper did save the company and several supervisors severe penalties and potential loss of our jobs, not to mention what likely would have been large legal fees. I learned long before, when working on other government projects, to save every scrap of paper and document every meeting, particularly those dealing with safety and environmental issues. The trick of making copies of those documents for my own files saved my own and other peoples bacon more than just this one time.

Your observation Grader4me, that brief meetings like this every week or every shift should not be for concern of avoiding citations or penalties is pertinent, but the sad fact is, these meetings and briefings do have a dual purpose, and it would be well worth your trouble in the long run to get signature documentation and make extra copies that are kept and filed separately.

Meetings should be kept brief, no more than ten minutes. Make sure the meeting safety topic is pertinent, don't hold one on pouring concrete when all you are doing is pushing scrapers and moving dirt. Bring in other information as needed for the shift or weeks production schedule, and maybe special difficulties or things to watch for. Make sure everyone understands all the information presented. Guy F Atkinson Construction had a good practice in which they had a different member of the crew do the presentation every week. It might be the crew leader one week, maybe a crew member the next, possibly the project manager or safety director the next and so on. This sort of focused everybody's attention. Ask the crew for comments and suggestions and write them down on the toolbox meeting sheet. Ask if the crew has any questions that pertain to the shift or the project. Write those down so someone can get an answer and present it right away or at the next meeting. Document that.

In today's even more tort happy atmosphere, you have to cover your butt every way you can. Verbal communication is almost useless as the regulatory agencies and the courts want to see documentation that proves almost conclusively what was said and what happened. It takes a little more effort, but in my experience, it's well worth it.

Good Luck!
 

Grader4me

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
1,792
Location
New Brunswick, Canada
Thanks for the replies! surfer-joe, your post is very informative and hopefully an eye opener for all that reads it.

Anyone else care to share a story or two? Do you think that these meetings would be a good practice to have? Anyone think that it would be just a waste of time?
 

MKTEF

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2007
Messages
1,013
Location
Norway
Occupation
Production manager
Safety meeting

Here in Norway we have to make a healt, invoironment and safety plan for each job we do.(HMS plan)
In this plan we describe what we are planning to do, rules of safety/invoironment/health, timeschedule and so on. We also make emergency call lists and so on.

When the project starts we have a safety meeting with all involved in the project. We then go trough the plan in detail with everyboy.
At the same time we deliver out the emergency call/what to do list.(everybody shall have one in their pocket)

The meeting is more like a discusson, where everybody gets involved so that the plan can be improved.:update (it is often made by the foreman/supervisor)
After the meeting, a final version is made and a copy is cept by the foreman at the worksite. The plan must be available to all empoyees at the worksite. The original is at the office.

We also have a general safety folder that everybody has in their pocket, that takes care of the more general safety on a higher level.

In the HMS plan there also is a plan for the safety inspections. Normaly it is performed a safety inspection every second week.(on bigger projects)

Then of course everybody must have a documented education on the spesific type of material that they operate. Meaning; the firm has to give you education on the Cat 966H that you is to operate, and on the spesific job you are using it on. With a detailed education on safetyrules on that spesific job.
And it dosent matter if you got 10 000 hours in a 966F....:ban
If it's a new machine and a new type of job; local security education on that one.
This type of education is a spesific point in the HMS plan. (the education can be 2 hours or 40 hours; the firm desides, but has to document it.)
(And you need a drivers permit, before you can put your ass in the loader and get this spesific education.):)

We don't have to make the guy's sign on the plan, but everybody must be present. Or have a seperatly new meeting before they start working on the site.
 

Dozerboy

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
2,232
Location
TX
Occupation
Operator
We have "Tailgate meetings†weekly normally they consist of "Here sign this". If there are some safety issues we will discuss them, but much for the most part.
 

Wolf

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2006
Messages
1,203
Location
California
Burgers and Beers

A tailgate meeting, in my opinion, should feature cold beers and a hot charcoal grill . . .
 

surfer-joe

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
1,403
Location
Arizona
A tailgate meeting, in my opinion, should feature cold beers and a hot charcoal grill . . .

Some do Wolf, some do. Always lots of cold sodas, donuts, and sometimes a barbeque or Pizza. Yeah! Some good memories there.
 

Countryboy

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2006
Messages
3,276
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Load Out Tech. / Heavy Equipment Operator / Locomo
MSHA requires the use of tailgate meetings. We have them weekly on a predetermined topic picked by MSHA. The meetings are kept short so as not to lose the attention of the employees. These meetings are also documented for review during MSHA inspection.

During the meetings we discuss Fatal-grams (see MSHA website), near misses, hazards and "bitches-n-gripes". Along with this we have montly meetings that have a larger audience and that last little longer. A video is usually shown while eating a steak dinner.

Most commom jobs have a "Job Hazard Analysis" (JHA) to which you can view a prediscussed plan of action to complete a job. During the JHA, hazards and such are discussed and "removed" from the current task.

We also have a Safety Reward Program in place to recognise those who carry on their job without accident or injury. You recieve safety points quartly and an extra amount yearly. You can turn these in for merchandise or gift cards. These points build up pretty quick if you remain accident free. 20,000 points quartly and an extra 20,000 at the end of the year for a total of 100,000 if you don't have an accident or injury. 150,000 = $500.

Great topic Grader4me......:thumbsup
 

Grader4me

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
1,792
Location
New Brunswick, Canada
During the meetings we discuss Fatal-grams (see MSHA website), near misses, hazards and "bitches-n-gripes". Along with this we have montly meetings that have a larger audience and that last little longer. A video is usually shown while eating a steak dinner.
We also have a Safety Reward Program in place to recognise those who carry on their job without accident or injury. You recieve safety points quartly and an extra amount yearly. You can turn these in for merchandise or gift cards. These points build up pretty quick if you remain accident free. 20,000 points quartly and an extra 20,000 at the end of the year for a total of 100,000 if you don't have an accident or injury. 150,000 = $500.

Great topic Grader4me......:thumbsup

I like the term "bitches-n-gripes" as the tailgate meeting is not only for employers, but it is also for employee's to address their safety concerns. These meetings are a great chance to keep the lines of communication open between employee and employer. When there is no communication, chances of an accident happening increases.

We also have a Safety Award Program in place where employee's are recognised for accident free years.
 

Gmads

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2007
Messages
65
Location
Dallas, TX
Occupation
Ditchdigger
Amongst the first group of things OSHA will ask for after a mandated reportable incident (fatality or at least 3 people hospitalized) is the following:
1. All personnel training records of the people/crews involved
2. Last 3 months of JHA's
3. Last 3 months of safety meetings/toolbox talks
 
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