Groundhog Day — A Means To Reduce Risk
No matter how you observe it (or even if you don’t), Groundhog Day is just another opportunity to get safety right for you and your people. It’s a lighthearted observation of an ancient tradition in which people recognized the fading of winter and the promise of spring. Every year, people gather in Pennsylvania to watch if the groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, sees his shadow. If he has, legend has it that we’ll stay in the cold grip of winter for another six weeks.
From keeping a Daily Log to maintaining open communication with your team, in this article, you will uncover methods to promote greater observation, critical thinking, and risk-reducing behaviors. So when Thursday, February 2nd comes, and Punxsutawney Phil looks for his shadow, remind your people to look in the shadows hidden at the jobsite.
Identifying Forgotten Hazards
Ask yourself, then ask your team — Are there forgotten hazards anywhere? Did someone put some solvent-soaked rags in a bin under a workbench, thinking, “I’ll clean them up later?” Did someone start to sweep up a pile of metal shavings or sawdust but get called away before they could finish with a dustpan? You don’t need to wait for spring to clean up the less-obvious hazards accumulated over the winter.
Fostering a Team-Wide "Safety Mentality"
Don’t let your crew develop a “same work, different day” mentality. Thanks to the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray, “Groundhog Day” has come to represent endless repetition. In the film, the main character repeats the same day over and over again. Similarly, it can sometimes feel like we’re repeating the same work and doing the same things repeatedly — nothing seems to change. But each new day at work, a different hazard may present itself.
Hazards Change And Human-Error Is Ever-Present
Hazards differ day to day, from one project to the next. And our work areas change. The people change. Tools and equipment wear and break. Materials arrive. Products are shipped. People may be efficient and focused one day, then fatigued and sleepy the next.
Methods To Promote Observation, Critical Thinking, and Risk-Reducing Behaviors
Use the Groundhog Day concept for breathing new life into your safety program! Here is an opportunity to create new habits. Don’t just walk the same walk over and over again! Remind your people to watch out for changing hazards (even if their jobs seem to be the same each day.) Below are a few ideas to help you make safety a habit for your team:
- Promote better observation team-wide.
- Challenge your team to identify any new changes and what hazards they present.
- Get your team to think critically about what they see.
- Motivate your team to uncover new ways to eliminate hazards.
- Praise your team for speaking up when they observe something unsafe or unusual.
- Leverage our Construction And Maintenance Daily Log Book to capture and secure jobsite records.
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