Toolbox Meeting

Course Objectives:

• The participant should be able to list the

functions of a TBM;

• as well as list the steps to prepare and carry

out the meeting proper.
•Clear instructions and daily updates are the concerns in a Toolbox
Meeting or TBM.
•This is a short meeting usually held to discuss safety and health
conditions in the workplaces.
•The name “Toolbox Meeting” became popular since a group of
workers meet together when a leader sat or stood-up on a Toolbox to
preside over a meeting.
• It is usually held in the morning before starting to work.
• One of the objectives of the toolbox meeting is to
encourage workers in safety and health awareness
through involvement in the discussions.

• Toolbox used on problems directly affecting safety

and health condition while performing their job.

• During the meeting, possible problems encountered

while working will be explained, opinions,
suggestions and recommendations are expected.

• Therefore, TBM will be fruitful if recommendations will

be put in place.
 Requirements in Conducting TBM

• Toolbox meeting can be held as far as

suitable topics to be discussed are
available, enthusiasm of discussion, &
safety officer are in place.

• Furthermore, the following conditions

support successful TBM.
 Management Support
• Conducting a toolbox meeting during working hours is almost
impossible without management support.

• At first, it is only a waste of time. Management should

understand toolbox meeting must be performed since workers
would enhance to involve themselves in discussing issues
and problems on the safety and health conditions.

• In return, such this meeting will benefit company in form of

low production cost and quality product improvement if an
appropriate accident prevention measures was taken.
 Careful Preparation

• It is necessary to make careful preparations

before conducting a Toolbox meeting or it
may result in setbacks.

• The following are the necessary preparations

to be made before the meeting:
 A. Significance of the meeting
should firmly decided
• It is better to conduct a meeting in the morning.

• Initially meeting may exceed to more than twenty (20) minutes because of
lack of preparation, poor experience in managing meeting or long
discussions that result in waste of.

• It is recommended finishing the meeting within 10 – 15 minutes once it is

underway.

• Frequency of the meeting should be more than twice a month and less
than twice a week.

• Meeting should be decided based on actual conditions of each

workplace.

• Therefore, it is advisable that a leader should be a supervisor, shift

supervisor, or a safety officer.
 B. Topic of the meeting should be
clearly supplied.
• In order to make a Toolbox meting fruitful, topic to be discussed was
properly selected.

• Safety officer of a leader in-charge of the meeting must understand issues

and problems on safety and health commonly arising during the
performance of job.

• It may happen through company publications.

• The office in charge of safety and health or a safety officer should

endeavor to supply appropriate information as a primary topic to discuss.

• Examples of causes of accidents occurring in the plant, countermeasures

taken, unsafe behavior, etc., are also considered to be suitable subjects for
discussions.
 C. Training of meeting leaders
• A Toolbox meeting is not the just meeting for discussing process
operation.

• TBM becomes valuable if definite conclusions are made as a result of

exchanges of positive opinions of all of the participants.

• A Toolbox meeting can end with failure if insufficient responses are made
by the participants.

• So, how can we convince the attendees be increased? Of course, it is

necessary to select a suitable discussion subject to which all of the
attendees are highly concerned.

• However, it is also necessary that participants/workers always understand

safety and health problems.

• More important factors for successful meeting should be enriched culture

and skillful chairmanship of a leader.
 How to proceed with Toolbox
meeting
First stage – Introduction

•This is a stage to prepare a good mood of the meeting. It is

necessary to make the participants and to let them feel the sense
of intimacy with the meeting.

•Topic to be discussed is given to the participants to draw their

interested in the topic and to let them direct their attentions
towards the problem.
Second stage – Draw attendees opinion

•At this stage, drawing participants’ opinions and

ideas on the topic is necessary to urge utterances
of as many participants as possible.

•Leader should take control of the discussions and

should focus on the topic, less discussions should
be confused, and lest the discussion should be
monopolized by one speaker.
Third stage – Summarizing

•This is the stage to draw conclusions by looking back all

the discussions made during the meeting.

•If no conclusion has been made available methods for

putting into practice must be decided.

•On the problems to which no conclusion was drawn, it

should be decided how to handle these problems in
future.
 Management Procedures of TBM
• Described below are the orthodox management procedures of
Toolbox meeting.

• However, it should be pointed out that it is not necessary to

stick in such procedures.

• At any rate, the meeting can be regarded as successful

opinions are exchanged, and if the leader successfully drew
conclusions made during the meeting.

• Remarks for successful management of Toolbox meeting are

as follows:
– Although the leader should predict the conclusion
of the meeting in advance, he should not limit the
course of the meeting toward the conclusion to be
only one since there are many views and ideas on
one thing.

– If original opinion or mistaken ideas are raised

during the meeting, the leader should not deny
such opinions immediately, but he should ask
opinions of other participants, ideas, and make the
speaker consent his opinion’s impertinence base
on overall judgment.
• If the problem is of implicated, it should be broken
into several items and discussions should be made
on each of the items one after another.
• Once the conclusion is obtained on one item, the
leader should clearly notify the conclusion to all of
the attendees for confirmation before proceeding to
the next item.
• If there are too many problems to be discussed, it is
recommended to leave off the discussion at a
certain point, and carry over the rest to the next
meeting.
• Meeting may come to a deadlock or may
become excessively emotional sometimes.

• In such cases, the leader shut the points at

the issue in order before the atmosphere or
the meeting becomes serious as soon as
possible.
– The leader should always manage the meeting with
confidence and quite calm.

– He should not lose his position as a leader being excited

with himself when the discussion be come heated.

– In Toolbox meeting, all of the attendees are principally in

a position to discuss on equal terms.

– Therefore, leader should not assume instructive attitude

or suppress his subordinates’ utterances by abusing his
organizational position.
– Toolbox meeting become meaningless if it is excessively
dragged on.

– Therefore the meeting should proceed tactfully and

should be closed at the fixed time.

– However, it is not advisable to close the meeting while

discussion is still going on.

– Attendees of the meeting should try to obtain at least one

conclusion at the end of the meeting under any
circumstances.
• At the end of the meeting, as many materials as possible, which
are related to the discussion, subjects should be distributed to the
attendees.

• This will make the Toolbox meeting more meaningful. It is

desirable that materials to be distributed here are of pocket size.

• Attendees will become more intimate with those materials if they

were prepared in the workplace.
Any questions?