There are two seemingly contradictory principles that need to be true for any safety meeting to be effective: Control and structure on the one hand, and openness and fluidity on the other. If you can’t control the flow of the meeting, or if it’s too chaotic, you may never get to the points you need to make. On the other hand, if it’s too controlled and too structured, you may very well cover those points but you’ll lose your audience and they’ll never internalize it.
Eric Svendsen, Ph.D., is Principal and lead change agent for safetyBUILT-IN, a safety-leadership learning and development organization. He has over 20 years experience in creating and executing outcomes-based leadership development and culture change initiatives aligned to organizational goals, and he personally led the safety-culture initiatives of a number of client organizations that resulted in “best ever safety performance” years for those companies.
There are two seemingly contradictory principles that need to be true for any safety meeting to be effective: Control and structure on the one hand, and openness and fluidity on the other. If you can’t control the flow of the meeting, or if it’s too chaotic, you may never get to the points you need to make. On the other hand, if it’s too controlled and too structured, you may very well cover those points but you’ll lose your audience and they’ll never internalize it. 
