Toolbox meetings are a way for businesses to provide their workers with information, and to allow employees to offer feedback, concerns, and ideas about everything from hazards and risks to workplace procedures and incidents. These meetings are usually held by the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU).
They are a good tool for ensuring open communication between employees and management and help to identify and manage risks, deal with issues, and discuss events. These effective meetings are not usually very long and can occur every day for hazardous workplaces, or once per month for less risky workplaces.
So what are the obligations of an employer regarding toolbox meetings?
An employer’s obligations: tool box meetings
There are no specific legal obligations regarding tool box meetings under work health and safety legislation. Tool box talks offer a useful strategy for fostering a safety culture in a workplace and alerting workers to potential hazards and risks involved in their work. They can be used to provide information about procedures or incidents, and to encourage engagement in a risk management approach.
To some extent, tool box meetings can also function as informal opportunities for consultation. Workers’ participation can be encouraged by providing them with relevant information, inviting their opinions, and allowing everyone to express and discuss their views.
Tool box talks, however, do not equate with health and safety committee meetings, and the legal duties that apply to the election and functions of health and safety representatives and health and safety committees do not apply to tool box meetings.
Therefore, while a tool box meeting every second month with an agenda and signed-off tool box talk forms is good practice, there are no actual obligations to meet.
