Toolbox Talks: Insights for Improvement

Tool box talks (TBTs) have the potential to improve communication, empower workers, reduce injuries and improve safety; however, they can also be "missed opportunities" for providing important safety messages in construction. The goal of this paper is to share the results from two research projects designed to improve the frequency, delivery, participation, and outcomes of TBTs. The results of these projects provide suggestions for planning and delivering TBTs in construction.

In the first project, 86 residential carpentry foremen from 8 different residential contractors in the St. Louis region participated in training for delivering TBTs as part of an 8-hour fall prevention and safety communication intervention. We compared baseline measures of safety behavior and fall prevention knowledge items to follow-up between participating foremen and their crewmembers. Concurrently, surveys of 300 apprentice carpenters were collected to describe the frequency and delivery methods of TBT and to serve as a comparison group for the TBT intervention. In the second project, we evaluated the utility of ergonomics TBTs delivered by a safety representative to 36 carpenters and laborers. Workers rated their perceptions of topic relevance, delivery method, similarities to traditional TBTs, and intent to change behaviors. The safety representative provided feedback regarding the TBTs and reported their observations of improved worker use of ergonomics in work tasks post-training.

Both interventions described in this paper improved workplace safety. The interventions demonstrate how to simply shift from non-collaborative TBTs to participatory, context-driven TBTs by using a pre-printed TBT template, modified to address the hazards present at the worksite. Delivery suggestions relate the information to the workers, and include workers in the identification of problems and safety-related solutions. These participatory methods for preparing and delivering TBTs have the potential to improve construction workplace safety practices.